Part 34 (1/2)
”Brooding over our good luck?” she said with a smile. ”Isn't that a curious att.i.tude?”
”The good luck is yours.”
”If you insist on the difference, but I don't know that it's kind!
Besides, I wanted to give you half my frontage on the vein.”
”That's quite impossible,” said Thirlwell firmly.
”Why is it impossible?”
”It would look as if I'd meant to take advantage of your generosity.”
”Does it matter how the thing would look?”
”Yes,” said Thirlwell, who hesitated. ”I want to keep your good opinion--if I have it.”
Agatha smiled, but her glance was soft. ”I won't flatter you, because I think you ought to know. But why are you moody? I'd expected you to be sympathetic to rejoice with me.”
”For your sake, I am glad.”
”But not for yours?”
”I haven't quite got used to the situation yet,” Thirlwell answered awkwardly. ”You see, I never expected to find the ore.”
”That was rather obvious,” Agatha rejoined with some dryness. ”But if you thought we would be disappointed, why did you come?”
Thirlwell was silent. He did not mean to admit that he had thought a sharp disappointment would be good for her and might save her worse pain. It was difficult to state this properly. Then if he owned that he had come for the pleasure of her society, she might misunderstand him and he might say too much. Agatha was half amused by his embarra.s.sment, but was moved all the same, for she understood more than he knew.
”We'll let it go,” she resumed. ”Still, I don't see why you should be disturbed by my success.”
”One often feels sorry when one finishes a big job. It means one has come to the end of things one has got used to and likes.”
”But this is rather the beginning than the end.”
”No,” he said moodily. ”We have had a glorious trip, but it's done with.
You will go back to the cities; there are only two or three months when a civilized girl can live in the woods. The trail we have broken stops here.”
”But what do you mean to do?”
”Help Scott at the Clermont, until he's forced to give up.”
”Sit down and light your pipe,” said Agatha. ”We must talk about this.”
He obeyed and picked up his pipe. Although he did not light it, its touch was soothing and he wanted to keep cool. Agatha sat down opposite on a fallen trunk and presently went on: ”To begin with, the mine must be worked, not sold, and I need help.”
”You can get a good manager for the wages you'll be able to pay.”
Agatha's color was higher, but she gave him a steady look. ”I want a man I know and trust. There are many ways in which I shall need advice, because I cannot take this fortune without its responsibility. The mine must be worked to the best advantage and the people I employ treated well. I mean to build good houses for them, not rude shacks, make it possible for them to lead happy lives, and see they get the best, not the worst, that our cities can send them when a settlement springs up.”