a dignified exit is never compatible with a back
door. Had he left Loon Dyke Farm in an amiable frame of mind, much
that was to happen in his immediate future might have been different.

But the writing had been set forth, and there was no altering it.

He walked with a great show of unnecessary energy. It was his nature
to do so. His energy was almost painful to behold. Too much vigour and
energy is almost worse than chronic indolence; sooner or later people
so afflicted find themselves in difficulties.

It was more than a year since his misadventure in the mountains. He
had suffered for his own wrong-headedness over that matter, but he had
not profited by his experience; he was incapable of doing so. His
length of service and reputation for hard work had saved him from
dismissal, but Chillingwood was less fortunate; subordinates in
Government service generally are less fortunate when their superiors
blunder.

However, Grey had outlived that unpleasantness. He was not the man to
brood over disaster. Soon after he had been transferred to Ainsley the
Town Clerkship fell vacant. He did what he could for Chillingwood,
with the result that the younger man eventually secured the post, and
thus found himself enjoying a bare existence on an income of $500 per
annum.

Halfway down the path Grey became aware of a horseman approaching the
farm. The figure was moving along slowly over the trail from Ainsley.
In the dusk the horse appeared to be jaded; its head hung down, and
its gait was ambling. The stranger was tall, but beyond that Grey
could see nothing, for the face was almost entirely hidden in the
depths of the storm-collar of his coat. The officer looked hard at the
new-comer. It was part of his work to know, at least by sight, every
inhabitant of his district. This man was quite a stranger to him. The
horse was unknown to him, and the fur coat was unfamiliar. In winter
these things usually mark a man out to his acquaintances. The horse
shows up against the snow, and the prairie man does not usually
possess two fur coats.

On the stranger's first appearance Grey's thoughts had at once flown
to George Iredale, but now, as he realized that the man was unknown to
him, his interest relaxed. However, he walked slowly on to the gate so
that he might obtain a closer inspection. Horse and rider were about
twenty-five yards off when Grey reached the gate, and he saw that they
were followed at some distance by a great wolfis