CHAPTER

      I A strong appeal
     II his friends’ opinion
    III A matter of duty
     IV George makes friends
      V the prairie
     VI George gets to work
    VII A cattle drive
   VIII constable Flett’s suspicions
     IX George Turns reformer
      X the liquor-runners
     XI diplomacy
    XII George faces disaster
   XIII Sylvia seeks amusement
    XIV Bland gets entangled
     XV Herbert makes A claim
    XVI A forced retirement
   XVII Herbert is patient
  XVIII Bland makes A sacrifice
    XIX an opposition move
     XX A blizzard
    XXI Grant comes to the rescue
   XXII the spread of disorder
  XXIII A harmless conspiracy
   XXIV George feels grateful
    XXV A COUNTERSTROKE
   XXVI the climax
  XXVII A sign from Flett
 XXVIII the leading witness
   XXIX Flora’s enlightenment
    XXX the escape
   XXXI the reaction
  XXXII A revelation
 XXXIII George makes up his mind

CHAPTER I

A STRONG APPEAL

It was evening of early summer.  George Lansing sat by a window of the library at Brantholme.  The house belonged to his cousin; and George, having lately reached it after traveling in haste from Norway, awaited the coming of Mrs. Sylvia Marston in an eagerly expectant mood.  It was characteristic of him that his expression conveyed little hint of his feelings, for George was a quiet, self-contained man; but he had not been so troubled by confused emotions since Sylvia married Marston three years earlier.  Marston had taken her to Canada; but now he was dead, and Sylvia, returning to England, had summoned George, who had been appointed executor of her husband’s will.

Outside, beyond the broad sweep of lawn, the quiet English countryside lay bathed in the evening light:  a river gleaming in the foreground, woods clothed in freshest verdure, and rugged hills running back through gradations of softening color into the distance.  Inside, a ray of sunlight stretched across the polished floor, and gleams of brightness rested on the rows of books and somber paneling.  Brantholme was old, but modern art had added comfort and toned down its austerity; and George, fresh from the northern snow peaks, was conscious of its restful atmosphere.

In the meanwhile, he was listening for a footstep.  Sylvia, he had been told, would be with him in two or three minutes; he had already been expecting her for a quarter of an hour.  This, however, did not surprise him:  Sylvia was rarely punctual, and until she married Marston, he had been accustomed to await her pleasure.