ring which they sit beside the stove.

"Then," inquired Wheeler, "who runs the ranch?"

"The wife and the boy. That is, when the boy's not chopping or
ploughing for somebody."

There were reasons why Nasmyth was stirred by what he had heard, and
with his pipe he pointed to Mattawa, as the flickering firelight fell
upon the old axeman's face.

"That," he said, "is the man who didn't want his wages when I offered
them to him, though he knew it was quite likely he would never get
them afterwards unless I built the dam. He'd been working for me two
or three months then, in the flooded river, most of the while. Now, is
there any sense in that kind of man?"

Mattawa appeared disconcerted, and his hard face flushed. "Well," he
explained, "I felt I had to see you through." He hesitated for a
moment with a gesture which seemed deprecatory of his point of view.
"It seemed up to me."

"You've heard him," said Gordon dryly. "He's from the desolate Bush
back East, and nobody has taught him to express himself clearly. The
men of that kind are handiest with the axe and drill, but it has
always seemed to me that the nations are going to sit round and listen
when they get up and speak their mind some day."

He saw the smile in Nasmyth's eyes, and turned to Wheeler, who was
from the State of Washington. "It's a solid fact that you, at least,
can understand. It's not so very long since your folks headed West
across the Ohio, and it's open to anyone to see what you have done."
Then he flung his hand out towards the east. "They fancy back yonder
we're still in the leading-strings, and it doesn't seem to strike them
that we're growing big and strong."

It was characteristic that Wheeler did not grin, as Nasmyth certainly
did. What Gordon had said was, no doubt, a trifle flamboyant, but it
expressed the views of others in the West, and after all it was more
or less warranted. Mattawa, however, gazed at them both as if such
matters were beyond him, and Wheeler, who turned to Nasmyth, changed
the subject.

"Well," he said, "what are you going to strike next?"

Nasmyth took out his pipe, and carefully filled it before he answered,
for he knew that his time had come, and he desired greatly to carry
his comrades along with him.

"I have," he said quietly, "a notion in my mind, or, anyway, the germ
of one, for the thing will want some worrying out. It's quite a
serious undertaking. To begin with, I'll ask Gordon who cut these
drains