Part 29 (1/2)

Running with hand upon the bridle, and splas.h.i.+ng in the pools, he rushed the horses at the last ascent; and then threw himself down with labored breath in the gra.s.s.

”This won't do,” he panted after a few moments. ”We'll have to put up five or six bags less, and you can figure how many extra loads that will make before we empty the bins. Then, I hate to keep a man and team standing by here when they could be hauling another load.”

”It's one of the things a prairie farmer runs up against,” Devine remarked.

”Just so. When they can't be put right, you have got to make the best of them; but this grade can be altered.”

”It might,” Devine agreed with a doubtful air. ”Do you think you can persuade the Colonel to join you?”

”No; but it's my duty to try. When you have helped Frank up, you can take the extra team and haul in the cordwood. I'll be back from the railroad about dark to-morrow.”

In the meanwhile, Kenwyne, Broadwood, and Lance Mowbray stood among the trees about three miles farther down the ravine, looking at the trail to Allenwood, which led along its edge. Near it the ground fell sharply to the creek, but the slope was regular, and small trees, blazed with the ax at intervals, marked a smooth descending line. On the opposite side, a gully offered an approach to the prairie at an easy gradient.

”We must have the bridge here; but it isn't a job we can manage without a.s.sistance,” said Kenwyne. ”I don't want to be disrespectful, Lance, but I hope your father enjoyed his lunch.”

Lance grinned.

”As a matter of fact, he did; but unfortunately he read the paper afterwards and the market report seemed to upset him. To make things worse, I rashly mentioned that it bore out Harding's prognostications.

In consequence, I expect you'll need all the tact you've got.”

”I wish Harding had a little more,” Broadwood remarked. ”I can be meek, when it's for the good of the settlement, but our friend's too blunt.”

”If he's blunt to-day, there'll be trouble,” Lance replied with a chuckle. ”I imagine the Colonel's in fighting form. Here he comes!”

It was in an unusually thoughtful mood that Mowbray rode toward them.

The steady fall in the price of wheat was sufficient to cause him anxiety, but he had further grounds for feeling disturbed. There was an unsettling influence at work at Allenwood; plans were being mooted which he thought originated with Harding; and, worse than all, he suspected that his household was not altogether with him. Gerald certainly showed unexpected sense in denouncing the innovations; but Mowbray had doubts about Beatrice, who seemed to be cultivating Miss Harding's acquaintance; and even his wife now and then took the part of the offender. Besides, there were, so to speak, portents of change in the air, and Mowbray felt that he was being driven where he did not mean to go. He blamed Harding for this, and thought it was time he put a stop to the fellow's encroachments. For all that, he greeted the waiting men pleasantly when he dismounted.

”The days are getting colder, but it's a bracing afternoon,” he said.

”Now, perhaps we'd better walk over the line of the proposed trail.”

They took him along the side of the ravine, and Kenwyne, stopping now and then, drew his attention to a plan he carried.

”We'll need about forty feet of log underpinning at this point, and you'll see that it's provided for,” he said. ”On the next section there's a good deal of soil to move; I have an estimate of the number of wagon loads.” Farther on he stopped again. ”From here to the bridge it will come to only a ton for every three or four yards.”

Mowbray studied the plan and some sheets of figures.

”You seem to have thought the matter out very carefully,” he commented.

”It needed close attention,” said Broadwood.

Mowbray looked at the men keenly.

”There's a comprehensiveness about these plans and calculations that I did not expect from you,” he said dryly. ”To tell the truth, I'm somewhat surprised by them.”

They did not answer this, and Kenwyne frowned in warning as he saw Lance's amused expression.

”The trail would be useful, sir,” Broadwood urged.

”I think so. Do you feel competent to make it? The scheme is bolder than anything of the kind we have undertaken.”