dea that one can
almost forgive him his injustice and cruelty. You have not the same
excuse!"

Gertrude turned toward her with a formal manner.

"I think you have gone far enough. Do you intend to tell the others what
you have said to me?"

"Oh, no," answered Muriel. "It would serve no purpose. But I feel that
sooner or later you will be sorry for what you have done."

Then she went out, leaving Gertrude alone with her reflections.

CHAPTER XXI

WANDLE TAKES PRECAUTIONS

Bright sunshine streamed down upon the glittering plain, tempering the
frost, when Wandle stood outside his house one morning, wondering how he
should employ himself during the day. He had hauled his wheat in to the
elevators, and when that is done the western farmer has now and then some
leisure, because the frozen ground renders many of his usual operations
impossible. Wandle had a stack of cordwood ready cut, and though he
needed some logs for an addition to his stable which he meant to build,
the thinness of the snow, which had been disturbed by a strong wind,
would make the work of hauling them home too difficult. He was, however,
an active man, who rarely wasted time or money; and as he looked about,
the ash-heap caught his eye. It was rather large and near his house, and
he determined to remove it, now that he had nothing better to do.

In a few minutes he was hard at work with a pick, and succeeded, with
some difficulty, in breaking through the frozen crust. The moisture,
however, had not penetrated far enough into the fine wood-ash for the
rest to freeze, so that he was soon able to use the shovel and during the
next half-hour he flung a quantity of the stuff into his wagon. As he did
so he looked out for Jernyngham's cash-box, and grew surprised when it
did not appear. When he had hauled the load away and deposited it in a
swampy place he was getting anxious. The box could not have escaped his
notice, because he had spread the ash thinly; he had, he thought, dug far
enough into the pile to have reached it; but there was still no sign of
it. This was disconcerting, and he worked until he had largely reduced
the heap, and he scattered the next load so that every bit of rubbish
among it could be seen. Then he stopped in dismay to think. He had
certainly thrown the box among the ash, and it was gone; the only
inference was that somebody had afterward dug it up and taken it away.

Wandle realized this with a shock, but he was too