The Girl from Keller's Part 17

"That is obvious," Miss Graham interposed.

Festing got up, moved a pace or two, and stopped. "How much has she got?"

Mrs. Dalton told him and he frowned. "Then she had better keep it. I'd sooner you tied it up."

"Isn't that unreasonable?" Miss Graham asked.

"It's a man's business to support his wife. I don't want to live on Helen's money. Besides, I've made my plans."

"I don't think you quite understand," Mrs. Dalton rejoined. "After all, it is not a large sum and can be used for Helen's benefit. It may save her from some discomfort and give her advantages you could not provide."

Festing pondered for a few moments, and then answered thoughtfully: "Yes, I see this, and can't refuse. Well, perhaps the safest way would be to transfer the land I bought to Helen and record it in her name.

It's bound to go up in value and couldn't be taken from her unless she borrowed on a mortgage. The arrangement would set free my capital and enable us to run the homestead on more comfortable lines." Then he paused and asked: "Did Charnock know about the money?"

"He did not," said Mrs. Dalton. "We thought it better not to tell him; but we can trust you."

"Thank you," said Festing, who was silent for a time.

He had wondered whether he had misjudged Charnock in one respect, but saw that he had not. The fellow was a cur and would not have married Sadie if he had known about Helen's money. But this did not matter.

"Well," he resumed, "if you agree to my proposition, we'll get a lawyer to fix it up. In a way, it's some relief to know Helen has enough, and now I'm going to talk to her."

He found her in the next room and she gave him a smile. "I expect mother has told you I'm not as poor as you thought. Are you pleased or not?"

"I'm pleased for your sake, because there's not much risk of your finding things too hard, but I'd have been proud to marry you if you had nothing at all."

"Not even a certain prettiness?" Helen asked.

"Your beauty's something to be thankful for; but after all it's, so to speak, an accident, like your money. It wasn't your beauty, but you, I fell in love with."

Helen blushed. "Ah!" she said, "now you're very nice indeed!"

CHAPTER XI

SADIE USES PRESSURE

It was getting cold in the small back office when Sadie put down her pen and went into the store. She was cramped with sitting, for she had been occupied with accounts for several hours and the stove had burned low.

"You can quit now, Steve," she said to the clerk. "Put out the lights, but don't lock up. I'm going to wait until the boss comes."

The clerk turned his head to hide a smile; because he knew where Charnock was, and thought Mrs. Charnock might have to wait some time; but he did as he was told, and when he went out Sadie stood s.h.i.+vering at the door. She had married Charnock late in the fall and now it was March, but there was no sign yet of returning spring. The sky was dark and a bitter wind from the prairie blew down the empty street. Blocks of square-fronted houses stood out harshly against the snow, which sparkled here and there in a ray of light. The settlement looked ugly and very desolate, and Sadie studied it with a feeling of weariness and disgust.

It seemed strange that she had once thought it a lively place, but this was before she met Charnock, who had taught her much.

Shutting the door, she returned to the office and glanced critically at her reflection in a mirror on the wall. She had been ill, in consequence of the strain she had borne while her father was sick, and looked older.

Her face was thin and she felt tired, but her skin had not lost its silky whiteness, and her black dress hung in becoming lines. It was a well-cut dress, for Sadie was extravagant in such matters and knew how to choose her clothes. She had lost the freshness that had marked her, but had gained something: a touch of dignity that she thought of as style.

Sitting down at the desk, she began to muse. Keller had fallen ill soon after her wedding. It was a painful illness, and as skilled help was scarce, she had nursed him until he died. He was a plain storekeeper, but she knew he was, in many ways, a bigger and better man than Bob. He demanded all that was his, but he kept his word, and when he undertook a thing put it over, which Bob seldom did. Shortly before he died he gave Sadie good advice.

"You got the man you wanted, and now it's your job to look after him.

head him off the liquor, and keep your hands on the dollars. I've fixed things so's they belong to you."

Another time he asked for certain accounts, and after studying them remarked: "You want to watch the business and run it all it's worth.

You have a husband to work for now, and I guess a man like Bob comes expensive. Still, if you can guild him right, he's not all a fool."

Sadie had not resented this. She knew it was true, and her father had not meant to sneer. He was a blunt man and generally talked like that, and Sadie sometimes did so. Well, she had not been cheated, because she knew what Bob was before they married; and although ambition had something to do with it, she loved him. For all that, she had got some rude jars, and now pa.s.sion was dying, her love was colored by a certain half-maternal protection. Bob must be watched and guarded.

Her ambition, however, remained. She had beauty and intelligence and wanted to win a place in cultured society. Bob could help her, and she was tired of the dreary settlement. But she was practical. Money would be needed if they were to move to one of the cities, and although trade was good, gathering dollars was slow work when one had an extravagant husband. While she had been ill Bob was left in charge of the business, and on recovering her first task had been to find out how he had managed. Now she had found out and got something of a shock.

The room got colder, but Bob had made some entries in a cash-book she could not understand, and opening the book again, she spent some time in calculations that threw no fresh light on the matter. Then she heard steps and turned as Charnock came in.

He took off his fur-coat and Sadie frowned as he dropped it into a dusty corner. It was an expensive coat, but one could not teach Bob to take care of things. Then he kissed her and sat down on the edge of the table.

"You're getting prettier, Sadie; that thoughtful look of yours is particularly fetching. But I can see you're tired. Put those books away and let's get home."

Sadie knew what his compliments were worth, although they had not lost their charm. He wanted to put things off, but she must be firm.

"You make me tired, and I haven't finished with the books. We've got to have a talk."

"I like you best when you don't talk; you sometimes say too much,"

Charnock replied. "Besides a girl like you ought to be satisfied with being seen. You're worth looking at."

Sadie gave him a quick glance. He had recently become fastidious about his clothes and she did not grudge the dollars he spent on them. His taste was good, and he looked very graceful as he turned to her with a smile on his face. The hint of dissipation it had worn was not so marked, for she had some power over him and used it well, but she thought he had been indulging. There was, however, no use in getting angry with Bob.

"You were at Wilkinson's again," she said. "You promised you'd stop off going there. I suppose he set up the whisky!"

"I didn't take much. It wasn't good whisky; not like ours. That reminds me--I'm not much of a business man, but I've had a happy thought. My notion is we give the boys better liquor than they want. They wouldn't know the difference if we kept cheaper stuff."

Sadie frowned, because she had accepted her father's business code. His charges were high, but it had been his boast that Keller's delivered the goods one paid for. Then she realized that Bob had nearly succeeded in putting off the threatened talk.

"No," she said, "that's bad business in the end. When you'd had some whisky, Wilkinson got out the cards?"

"Oh, well, you know you stopped me playing a quiet game at home, and three or four of the boys were there. Then a Brandon real-estate man asked for the cards."

"How much were you out when you finished the game?"

"Not much," said Charnock with some hesitation.

"How much?"

"If you insist, about ten dollars."

Sadie made a gesture of impatience, but after all he might have had a heavier loss.

"Ten dollars and a headache next morning for an evening's card game.

You surely don't know much, Bob! But look at this statement and tell me where the money's gone."

Charnock took the paper she gave him and colored.