Bindloss Harold
The Protector

CHAPTER XXIII – VANE PROVES OBDURATE

Vane spent two or three weeks very pleasantly in Vancouver, for Evelyn, of whom he saw a good deal, was gracious to him. The embarrassment both had felt on their first meeting in the Western city had speedily vanished; they had resumed their acquaintance on what was ostensibly a purely friendly footing, and, since both avoided any reference to what had taken place in England, it had ripened into a mutual confidence.

This would have been less probable in the older country, where they would have been continually reminded of what the Chisholm family had expected of them; but the past seldom counts for much in the new and changeful West, whose inhabitants look forward to the future. Indeed, there is something in its atmosphere which banishes regret and retrospection; and when Evelyn looked back at all, she felt inclined to wonder why she had once been so troubled by the man’s satisfaction with her company. She decided that this could not have been the result of any aversion from him, and that it was merely an instinctive revolt against the part her parents had wished to force upon her. Chisholm and his wife had blundered as such people often do, for it is possible that had they adopted a perfectly neutral attitude everything would have gone as they desired.

Their mistake was nevertheless a natural one. Somewhat exaggerated reports of Vane’s prosperity had reached them; but while they coveted the advantages his wealth might offer their daughter, in their secret hearts they looked upon him as something of a barbarian, which idea the opinions he occasionally expressed in their hearing did not dispel. Both feared that Evelyn regarded him in the same light, and it accordingly became evident that a little pressure might be required. In spite of their prejudices, they did not shrink from applying it.

In the meanwhile, several people in Vancouver watched the increase of friendliness between the girl and Vane. Mrs. Nairn and her husband did so with benevolent interest, and it was by the former’s adroit management, which Evelyn did not often suspect, that they were thrown more and more into each other’s company. Jessie Horsfield, however, looked on with bitterness. She was a strong-willed young woman who had hitherto generally contrived to obtain what she had set her heart upon, and she had set it upon this man. Indeed, she had fancied that he returned the feeling, but disillusionment had come on the evening when he had unexpectedly met Evelyn. Her resentment against the girl grew steadily stronger, until it threatened to prove dangerous on opportunity.

There were, however, days when Vane was disturbed in mind. Winter was coming on, and although it is rarely severe on the southern seaboard, it is by no means the season one would choose for an adventure among the ranges of the northern wilderness. Unless he made his search for the spruce very shortly, he might be compelled to postpone it until the spring, at the risk of being forestalled; but there were two reasons which detained him. He thought he was gaining ground in Evelyn’s esteem, and he feared the effect of absence; while there was no doubt that the new issue of the Clermont shares was in very slack demand. To leave the city might cost him a good deal, but he had pledged himself to go.

The latter fact was uppermost in his mind one evening when he set off to call upon Celia Hartley, and, as it happened, Evelyn and Mrs. Nairn were driving past as he turned off from a busy street towards the quarter in which she lived. It had been dark some little time, but Evelyn had no difficulty in recognising him. Indeed, she watched him for a few moments while he passed on into a more shadowy region, where the gloom and dilapidation of the first small frame houses were noticeable, and she wondered what kind of people inhabited it. She did not think Mrs. Nairn had noticed Vane.

“You have never taken me into the district on our left,” she said.

“I’m no likely to,” was the answer. “We’re no proud of it.”

“I suppose the Chinese and other aliens live there,” Evelyn suggested.

“They do,” said Mrs. Nairn with some dryness. “I’m no sure, however, that they’re the worst.”

“But one understands that you haven’t a criminal population.”

“We have folks who’re on the fringe of it, only we see they live all together. People who would be respectable live somewhere else, except, a few who have to consider cheapness, but it’s no a recommendation to be seen going into yon quarter after dark.”

This left Evelyn thoughtful, since she had undoubtedly seen Vane going there. She considered herself a judge of character and generally trusted her intuitions, and she believed the man’s visit to the neighbourhood in question admitted of some satisfactory explanation. On the other hand, she felt that her friends should be beyond suspicion. Taking it all round, she was rather vexed with Vane, and it cost her some trouble to drive the matter out of her mind, though she succeeded in doing so.

She did not see Vane next day, but the latter called upon Nairn at his office during the afternoon.

“Have you had any more applications for the new stock?” he asked.

“I have not,” said Nairn. “Neither Bendle nor Howiston has paid up yet.”

“Investors are shy; that’s a fact,” Vane confessed. “It’s unfortunate. I’ve already put off my trip north as long as possible; I wanted to see things on a satisfactory basis before I went.”

“A prudent wish. I would advise ye to carry it out.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Something like this: If the money’s no forthcoming, we may be compelled to fall back upon a different plan, and, unless ye’re to the fore, the decision of a shareholders’ meeting might not suit ye. Considering the position and the stock ye hold, any views ye might express would carry mair weight than mine could do in your absence.”

Vane drummed with his fingers on the table. “I suppose that’s the case; but I’ve got to make the journey. With moderately good fortune it shouldn’t take me long.”

“Ye would be running some risk if anything delayed ye and we had to call a meeting before ye got back.”

“I see that, but it can’t be helped. I expect to be back before I’m wanted. Anyway, I could leave you authority to act on my behalf.”

After a further attempt to dissuade him, Nairn spread out one hand resignedly. “He who will to Cupar maun be left to gang,” he said. “Whiles, I have wondered why any one should be so keen on getting there, but doubtless a douce Scottish town has mair attractions for a sensible person than the rugged North-West in winter time.”

Vane, who smiled at this, went out and left him; and when he reached home Nairn briefly recounted the interview to his wife over his evening meal. Evelyn, who was with them, listened attentively.

“Yon man will no hear reason,” Nairn concluded. “He’s thrawn.”

Evelyn had already noticed that her host, for whom she had a strong liking, spoke broader Scots when he was either amused or angry, and she supposed that Vane’s determination disturbed him.

“But why should he persist in leaving the city, when it’s to his disadvantage to do so, as you lead one to believe it is?” she asked.

“If the latter’s no absolutely certain, it’s very likely,” Nairn informed her.

“You have only answered half my question,” Evelyn pointed out.

Mrs. Nairn smiled. “Alec,” she said, “is reserved by nature, but if ye’re anxious for an answer I might tell ye.”

“Anxious hardly describes it,” Evelyn replied.

“Then we’ll say curious. The fact is, Vane made a bargain with a sick prospector, in which he undertook to locate some timber the man had discovered away among the mountains. He was to pay the other a share of its value when he got his Government licence.”

“Is the timber very valuable?”

“No,” broke in Nairn. “One might make a fair business profit out of pulping it, though the thing’s far from certain.”

“Then why is Mr. Vane so keen on finding it?”

The question gave Mrs. Nairn a lead, but she decided to say no more than was necessary. “The prospector died, but that bound the bargain tighter, in Vane’s opinion. The man died without a dollar, leaving a daughter worn-out and ill with nursing him. According to the arrangement, his share will go to the girl.”

“Then,” said Evelyn, “Mr. Vane is really undertaking the search in order to keep his promise to a man who is dead; and he will not even postpone it, because if he did so this penniless girl might, perhaps, lose her share? Isn’t that rather fine of him?”

“On the whole, ye understand the position,” Nairn agreed, “If ye desire my view of the matter, I would merely say that yon’s the kind of man he is.”

Evelyn made no further comment, though the last common phrase struck her as a most eloquent tribute. She had heard Vane confess that he did not want to go north at present, and she now understood that to do so might jeopardise his interests in the mine; but he was undoubtedly going. He meant to keep his promise – this was what one would expect of him.

As it happened, he took her for a drive among the Stanley pines one mild afternoon a few days later, and though she knew she would regret his departure she was unusually friendly. Vane rejoiced at it, but he had already decided that he must endeavour to proceed with caution and content himself in the meanwhile with the part of trusted companion. For this reason, he chatted lightly, which he felt was safer, during most of the drive, but he once or twice responded without reserve when, by chance or design, she asked a leading question.

“I wonder if you ever feel any regret at having left England for this country,” she said.

“I did so pretty often when I first came out,” he answered. “In those days, I had to work in icy water, and carry massive lumps of rock.”

“I dare say regret was a very natural feeling then; but that wasn’t quite what I meant.”

“So I supposed,” Vane confessed. “Well, I’d better own that when I spent a week or two in England – at the Dene – I began to think I missed a good deal by not staying at home. It struck me that the life you led had a singular charm. Everything went so smoothly there among the sheltering hills. One felt that care and anxiety could not creep in. Somehow the place reminded me of Avalon.”

“The impression was by no means correct,” said Evelyn. “But I don’t think you have finished. Won’t you go on?”

“Then if I get out of my depth you mustn’t blame me. By and by I discovered that charm wasn’t the right word – the place was permeated with a narcotic spell.”

“Narcotic?” said Evelyn. “Do you think the term’s more appropriate?”

“I do,” Vane declared, “Narcotics, one understands, are insidious things. If you take them regularly, in small doses, they increase their hold on you, until you become wrapped up in dreams and unrealities. If, however, you get too big a dose at the beginning, it leads to a vigorous revulsion. It’s nature’s warning and remedy.”

“You’re not flattering,” said Evelyn. “But I almost fancy you are right.”

“We are told that man was made to struggle; to use all his powers. If he rests too long beside the still backwaters of life in fairylike dales, they’re apt to atrophy, and he finds himself slack and nerveless when he goes out to face the world again.”

Evelyn nodded, for she had felt and striven against the insidious influence he spoke of. She had now and then left the drowsy dale for a while; but the life she had then caught glimpses of was equally sheltered, one possible only to the favoured few. Even the echoes of the real tense struggle seldom passed its boundaries.

“But you confessed not long ago that you loved the Western wilderness,” she said. “You have spent a good deal of time in it; you expect to do so again. After all, isn’t that only exchanging one beautiful, tranquil region for another? The bush must be even quieter than the English dales.”

“I expect I haven’t made the point quite clear. When one goes up into the bush it’s not to lounge and dream there, but to make war upon it with the axe and drill.” He pulled up his team and pointed to a clump of giant trees. “Look here. That’s Nature’s challenge to man in this country.”

Evelyn confessed that it was a very impressive one. The great trunks ran up far aloft, tremendous columns, before their higher portions were lost in the vaulted roof of sombre greenery. They dwarfed the rig and team; she felt herself a pigmy by comparison.

“They’re rather bigger than the average,” her companion resumed. “Still, that’s the kind of thing you run up against when you buy land to make a ranch of or clear the ground for a mine. Chopping, sawing up, splitting those giants doesn’t fill one with languorous dreams; the only ones our axe-men indulge in materialise. It’s a bracing struggle. There are leagues and leagues of trees, shrouding the valleys in a shadow that has lasted since the world was young; but you see the dawn of a wonderful future breaking in as the long ranks go down.”

Once more, without clearly intending it, he had stirred the girl. He had not spoken in that rather fanciful style to impress her; she thought he had, trusting in her comprehension, merely given his ideas free rein. But in doing so he had somehow made her hear the clear trumpet-call to action, which, for such men, rings through the roar of the river and the song of the tall black pines.

“Ah!” she said, “I dare say it’s a fine life in many ways, but it must have its drawbacks. The flesh must shrink from them.”

“The flesh?” he said and laughed. “In this land it takes second place – except, perhaps, in the cities.” Then he turned and looked at her curiously. “Why should you talk of shrinking? The bush couldn’t daunt you; you have courage.”

The girl’s eyes sparkled, but it was not at the compliment. His words rang with freedom, the freedom of the heights, where heroic effort was the rule in place of luxury. She longed now, as she had often done, to escape from bondage, to break away.

“Ah, well,” she said, half-wistfully, “I expect it’s fortunate that such courage as I have may never be put to the test.”

Though reticence was difficult, Vane made no comment. He had spoken unguardedly already, and he had decided that caution was desirable. As it happened, an automobile came up when he restarted his team, and he looked round as he drove on again.

“It’s curious that I never heard the thing,” he said.

“I didn’t either,” said Evelyn, and added, as if any explanation were needed: “I was too engrossed in the trees. But I think Miss Horsfield was in it.”

“Was she?” said Vane in a very casual manner, and Evelyn, for no reason that she was willing to admit, was pleased.

She had not been mistaken. Jessie Horsfield was in the automobile, and she had had a few moments in which to study Vane and his companion. The man’s look and the girl’s expression had struck her as significant; and her lips set ominously tight as the car sped on. She felt she almost hated Vane, and there was no doubt that she entirely hated the girl at his side.

CHAPTER XXIV – JESSIE STRIKES

It was the afternoon before Vane’s departure for the north, and Evelyn, sitting alone for the time being in Mrs. Nairn’s drawing-room, felt disturbed by the thought of it. She sympathised with his object, but she supposed there was a certain risk attached to the journey, and that troubled her. In addition to this there was another point on which she was not altogether pleased. She had twice seen Vane acknowledge a bow from a very pretty girl whose general appearance suggested that she did not belong to Evelyn’s own walk of life, and that very morning she had noticed him crossing a street in the young woman’s company. Vane, as it happened, had met Kitty Blake by accident and had asked her to accompany him on a visit to Celia.

Evelyn did not think she was of a jealous disposition, and jealousy appeared irrational in the case of a man whom she had dismissed as a suitor; but the thing rankled in her mind. While she considered it, Jessie Horsfield entered the room.

“I’m here by invitation, to join Vane’s other old friends in giving him a good send-off,” she explained.

Evelyn noticed that Jessie laid some stress upon her acquaintance with Vane, and wondered if she had any motive for doing so.

“I suppose you have known him for some time,” she said.

“Oh, yes,” was the careless answer. “My brother was one of the first to take him up when he came to Vancouver.”

The phrase jarred on Evelyn. It savoured of patronage; besides, she did not like to think that Vane owed anything to the Horsfields.

“Though I don’t know much about it, I understood they were opposed to each other,” she said coldly.

“Their business interests don’t coincide; but it doesn’t follow that they should disagree about anything else. My brother did all he could to dissuade Vane from going on with his search for the timber until the winter was over.”

“I think it is rather fine of him to persist in it,” Evelyn declared.

Jessie smiled, though she felt venomous just then. “Yes,” she agreed; “one undoubtedly feels that. Besides, the thing’s so characteristic of him; the man’s impulsively generous and not easily daunted. He possesses many of the rudimentary virtues, as well as some of the corresponding weaknesses, which is very much what one would look for.”

“What do you mean by that?” Evelyn inquired, suppressing her resentment. Though she was not prepared to pose as Vane’s advocate, she was conscious of a growing antagonism against her companion.

“It’s difficult to explain, and I don’t know that the subject’s worth discussing,” said Jessie. “However, what I think I meant was this – Vane’s of a type that’s not uncommon in the West, and it’s a type one finds interesting. He’s forcibly elementary, which is the only way I can express it; the restraints the rest of us submit to don’t bind him; he breaks through them.”

This, so Evelyn fancied, was more or less correct. Indeed, the man’s disregard of hampering customs had pleased her, but she allowed that some restraints were needful. As it happened, her companion followed up the same train of thought.

“When one breaks down or gets over fences, it’s necessary to discriminate,” she went on lightly. “Men of the Berserker type, however, are more addicted to going straight through the lot. In a way, they’re consistent – having smashed one barrier, why should they respect the next?”

Jessie, as she was quite aware, was playing a dangerous game; one that might afterwards be exposed. Still, the latter possibility was of less account because detection would come too late if she were successful. She was acquainted with the salient points of Evelyn’s character.

“They’re consistent, if not always very logical,” she concluded after a pause. “One endeavours to make allowances for men of that description.”

Something in her tone roused Evelyn to sudden imperious anger. It was intolerable that this woman should offer excuses for Vane.

“What particular allowances do you feel it needful to make in Mr. Vane’s case?” she asked.

Now she was faced by the direct question, Jessie hesitated. As a rule, she was subtle, but she could be ruthlessly frank, and she was possessed by a hatred of the girl beside her.

“You have forced me to an explanation,” she expostulated. “The fact is that while he has a room at the hotel he has an – establishment – in a different neighbourhood. Unfortunately, what you could best describe as a Latin quarter is a feature of some Western towns.”

It was a shock to Evelyn; one she found it hard to face, though she was not convinced. The last piece of information agreed with something Mrs. Nairn had told her; but although she had on one occasion had the testimony of her eyes in support of it, Jessie’s first statement sounded incredible.

“It’s impossible,” she declared.

Jessie smiled in a bitter manner. “It’s unpleasant, but it can’t be denied. He undoubtedly pays the rent of a shack in the neighbourhood I mentioned.”

Evelyn sat tensely still for a moment or two. She dared not give rein to her feelings, she would not betray herself; but composure was extremely difficult.

“If that is so, how is it that he is received everywhere – at your house and by Mrs. Nairn?” she asked.

Jessie shrugged her shoulders. “People in general are the more or less charitable in the case of a successful man. Apart from that, Mr. Vane has a good many excellent qualities. As I said, one has to make allowances.”

Just then, to Evelyn’s relief, Mrs. Nairn came in, and though the girl suffered during the time, it was half an hour before she could find an excuse for slipping away alone. Then, sitting in the gathering darkness, in her own room, she set herself to consider, as dispassionately as possible, what she had heard. It was exceedingly difficult to believe the charge; but Jessie’s assertion was definite enough, and one which, if incorrect, could be readily disproved. Nobody would say such a thing unless it could be substantiated, and that led Evelyn to consider why Jessie had given her the information. She had obviously done so with at least a trace of malice; but this could hardly have sprung from jealousy, because Evelyn could not think that a woman would vilify a man for whom she had any tenderness. Besides, she had seen Vane entering the part of the town indicated, where he could not have had any legitimate business. Hateful as the suspicion was, it could not be contemptuously dismissed. Then she granted that she had no right to censure the man; he was not accountable to her for his conduct; but calm reasoning carried her no farther. She was once more filled with intolerable disgust and burning indignation. Somehow she had come to believe in Vane, and he had turned out an impostor.

It was about an hour later when Vane and Carroll entered the house with Nairn and proceeded to the latter’s room, where he offered them cigars.

“So ye’re all ready to sail the morn?” he said.

Vane, who nodded, handed him some papers. “There’s your authority to act in my name if it’s required. I expect to be back before there’s much change in the situation; but I’ll call at Nanaimo, where you can wire me if anything turns up during the three days it may take us to get there.”

“I suppose there’s no use in my saying anything more now; but I can’t help pointing out that, as head of the concern, you have a certain duty to the shareholders which you seem inclined to disregard,” Carroll remarked.

“I’ve no doubt their interests will be as safe in Nairn’s hands as in mine,” Vane rejoined.

“I fail to see why ye could no have let the whole thing stand over until the spring,” said Nairn. “The spruce winna run away.”

“I’d have done so had it been a few years earlier, but the whole country is overrun with mineral prospectors and timber-righters now. Every month’s delay gives somebody else a chance of getting in ahead of me.”

“Weel,” said Nairn resignedly. “I can only wish ye luck, but should ye be detained up yonder, if one of ye could sail across to Comox to see if there’s any mail there, it would be wise to do so.” He waved his hand. “No more of that; we’ll consider what tactics I had better adopt in case of delay.”

An hour had passed before they went down to join the guests who were arriving for the evening meal. As a rule, the Western business man, who is more or less engrossed in his occupation, except when he is asleep, enjoys little privacy; and his friends sometimes compared Nairn’s dwelling to the rotunda of an hotel. The point of this was that people of all descriptions who have nothing better to do are addicted to strolling into the combined bazaar and lounge which is attached to many Canadian hostelries.

As it happened, Vane sat next to Evelyn at table; but after a quiet reply to his first observation, she turned and talked to the man on her other side. Since the latter, who was elderly and dull, had only two topics – the most efficient means of desiccating fruit and the lack of railroad facilities – Vane was somewhat astonished that she appeared interested in his conversation, and by and by he tried again. He was not more successful this time, and his face grew warm as he realised that Evelyn was not inclined to talk to him. Being a very ordinary mortal and not particularly patient, he was sensible of some indignation, which was not diminished when, on looking round, Jessie Horsfield, who sat opposite, favoured him with a compassionate smile. He took his part in the general conversation, however, and the meal was over and the guests were scattered about the adjoining rooms, when, after impatiently waiting for the opportunity, he found Evelyn alone. She was standing with one hand on a table, looking rather thoughtful.

“I’ve come to ask what I’ve done,” he began.

Evelyn, who was not prepared for this blunt directness, felt disconcerted, but she broke into a chilly smile.

“The question’s rather indefinite, isn’t it?” she said. “Do you expect me to be acquainted with all your recent actions?”

“Then I’ll put the thing in another way – do you mind telling me how I have offended you?”

The girl almost wished that she could do so. Appearances were badly against him, but she felt that if he declared himself innocent she could take his word in the face of overwhelming testimony to the contrary, Unfortunately, however, it was unthinkable that she should plainly state the charge.

“Do you suppose I should feel warranted in forming any opinion upon your conduct?” she retorted.

“But you have formed one, and it isn’t favourable.”

The girl hesitated a moment, but she had the courage of her convictions, and she felt impelled to make some protest.

“That,” she said, looking him in the eyes, “is perfectly true.”

He looked more puzzled than guilty, and once more she chafed against the fact that she could give him no opportunity of defending himself.

“Well,” he said, “I’m sorry; but it brings us back to my first question.”

The situation was becoming painful as well as embarrassing, and Evelyn, perhaps unreasonably, grew more angry with the man.

“I’m afraid,” she said “you are either clever at dissembling or have no imagination.”

Vane held himself in hand with an effort, “I dare say you’re right on the latter point,” he informed her. “It’s a fact I’m sometimes thankful for. It leaves one more free to go straight ahead. Now, as I see the dried-fruit man coming in search of you, and you evidently don’t mean to answer me, I can’t urge the matter.”

He turned away and left her wondering why he had abandoned his usual persistency, unless it was that an uneasy conscience had driven him from the field. It did not occur to her that the man had, under strong provocation, merely yielded to the prompting of a somewhat hasty temper. In the meanwhile, he crossed the room in an absent-minded manner, and presently found himself near Jessie, who made room for him at her side.

“It looks as if you were in disgrace to-night,” she said, and waited with concealed impatience for his answer. If Evelyn had been clever or bold enough to give him a hint as to what he was suspected of, Jessie foresaw undesirable complications.

“I think I am,” he owned without reflection. “The trouble is, that while I may deserve it on general grounds, I’m unconscious of having done anything very reprehensible in particular.”

Jessie was sensible of considerable relief. The man was sore and resentful; he would not press Evelyn for an explanation, and the breach would widen. In the meanwhile she must play her cards skilfully.

“Then that fact should sustain you,” she rejoined. “We shall miss you after to-morrow; more than one of us. Of course, it’s too late to tell you that you were not altogether wise in resolving to go.”

“Everybody has been telling me the same thing for the last few weeks,” Vane informed her.

“Then I’ll only wish you every success. It’s a pity Bendle and the other man haven’t paid up yet.”

She met his surprised look with an engaging smile. “You needn’t be astonished. There’s not very much goes on in the city that I don’t hear about – you know how men talk business here; and it’s interesting to look on, even when one can’t actually take a hand in the game. It’s said the watchers sometimes see most of it.”

“To tell the truth, it’s the uncertainty as to what those two men might do that has been chiefly worrying me.”

“I believe I understand the position; they’ve been hanging fire, haven’t they? But I’ve reasons for believing they’ll come to a decision before very long.”

Vane looked troubled, “That’s interesting, but I ought to warn you that your brother – ”

“I’ve no intention of giving him away, and, as a matter of fact, I think you are a little prejudiced against him. After all, he’s not your greatest danger. There’s a cabal against you among your shareholders.”

She knew by the way he looked at her that he admired her acumen. “Yes,” he agreed; “I’ve suspected that.”

“There are two courses open to you; the first is to put off your expedition.”

The answer was to the effect she had anticipated. “I can’t do so, for several reasons.”

“The other is to call at Nanaimo and wait until, we’ll say, next Thursday. If there’s need for you to come back, I think it will arise by then; but it might be better if you called at Comox too – after you leave the latter you’ll be unreachable. Well, if it seems necessary, I’ll send you a warning. If you hear nothing, you can go on.”

Vane reflected hastily. Jessie, as she had told him, had opportunities of picking up valuable information about the business done in that city, and he had confidence in her.

“Thank you,” he said. “It will be the second service you have done me, and I appreciate it. Anyway, I promised Nairn I’d call at Nanaimo, in there was a wire from him.”

“It’s a bargain, and now we’ll talk of something else,” said Jessie, and she drew him into an exchange of badinage, until noticing that Evelyn once or twice glanced at her with some astonishment she presently got rid of him. She could understand Evelyn’s attitude and did not wish her friendliness with the offender to appear unnatural after what she had said about him.