."

Agatha said nothing further, for the little girls appeared just then,
and it was not until the next afternoon that she and Mrs. Hastings were
again alone together. Then as they drove across the prairie the older
woman spoke of the business they had in hand.

"Gregory must keep those men," she said. "There's no doubt that Harry
meant to do it, and it would be horribly unfair to turn them loose now
when there is absolutely nothing going on. Besides, Tom Moran is a man
I'm specially sorry for. As I told you, he left a young wife and a very
little child behind him when he came out here."

"One would wonder why he did it," responded Agatha.

"He had to. There seems to be a notion in the Old Country that we earn
our money easily, but it's very wrong. We'll take that man's case as an
example. He has a little, desolate holding up in the bush of Ontario, a
hole chopped out of the forest and studded all over with sawn-off
fir-stumps. On it is a little two-roomed log shack. In all probability
there isn't a settlement within two or three leagues of the spot. Now,
as a rule, a place of that kind won't produce enough to keep a man for
several years after he has partially cleared it, and unless he can earn
something in the meanwhile he must give it up. Moran, it seems, got
heavily into debt with the nearest storekeeper, and had to choose
between selling the place or coming out here where wages are higher.
Well, you can probably imagine what it must be to the woman who stayed
behind in the desolate bush, seeing nobody for weeks together, though
I've no doubt that she'd bear it uncomplainingly believing that her
husband would come back with enough to clear the debt."

Agatha could imagine the state of affairs in the little home, and a
certain indignation against Gregory crept into her heart. She had once
liked to think of him as pitiful and chivalrous, and now, it seemed, he
was quite willing that this woman should make her sacrifice in vain.

"But why have you taken the trouble to impress this on--me?" she asked.

Mrs. Hastings smiled. "I want you to plead that woman's cause. Gregory
may do what you ask him gracefully. That would be much the nicest way
out of it."

"The nicest way?"

"Yes," answered Mrs. Hastings, "there is another one. Gregory is going
to keep Tom Moran, anyway. Harry has one or two friends in this
neighborhood who feel it more or less of an obligation on them to
maintain his credit."

Agatha felt the