shack, near which was an
unsightly pile of broken crockery, discarded clothes and rusty
provision cans. It was characteristic of Langside that he had not
taken the trouble to carry them as far as the neighboring bluff. In
front of the bluff, horses were picketed; along the side ran a strip of
black soil, sprinkled with the fresh blades of wheat; and all round the
rest of the wide circle the prairie stretched away under cloudless
sunshine, flecked with brightest green.

A thin crowd surrounded the auctioneer's table, but the men stood in
loose clusters, and George, walking through them, noticed that the
undesirable element was largely represented. There were a number of
small farmers, attracted by curiosity, or perhaps a wish to buy; but
these kept to themselves, and men from the settlement of no fixed
profession who worked spasmodically at different tasks, and spent the
rest of their time in the Sachem, were more plentiful. Besides these,
there were some strangers, and George thought the appearance of several
was far from prepossessing.

It was a glorious day. There was vigor in the warm breeze that swept
the grassy waste; the sunshine that bathed the black loam where the
green blades were springing up seemed filled with promise; but as the
sale proceeded George became sensible of a vague compunction. The
sight of the new wheat troubled him--Langside had laboriously sown that
crop, which somebody else would reap. Watching the battered domestic
utensils and furniture being carried out for sale had the same
disturbing effect. Poor and comfortless as the shack was, it had,
until rude hands had desecrated it, been a home. George felt that he
was consenting to the ruin of a defenseless man, assisting to drive him
forth, a wanderer and an outcast. He wondered how far the terrors of
loneliness had urged Langside into his reckless courses--homesteaders
scattered about the wide, empty spaces occasionally became insane--but
with an effort he overcame the sense of pity.

Langside had slackly given way, and, choosing an evil part, had become
a menace to the community; as Grant had said, he must go. This was
unavoidable, and though the duty of getting rid of him was painful, it
must be carried out. George was usually unsuspicious and of easy-going
nature up to a certain point, but there was a vein of hardness in him.

Once or twice the auctioneer was interrupted by jeering cries, but he
kept his temper and the sale w