uire, nor did he court them, but
he knew how this daughter had been brought up, spoiled and pampered to
the very limits of McGuire's indulgence and fortune, and he couldn't
help holding her up in comparison with Beth, much to Peggy's detriment.
For Beth was a lady to her finger tips, born to a natural gentility that
put to confusion the mannerisms of the "smart" finishing school which
had not succeeded in concealing the strain of a plebeian origin, and
Beth's dropped g's and her quaint inversions and locutions were
infinitely more pleasing to Peter than Miss Peggy's slang and
self-assurance, which reflected the modernity of the fashionable hotel
tea-room.

Fortunately, Jonathan K. McGuire, who had returned from the seashore the
night before, was not disposed to take his daughter's animadversions too
seriously and when Peter announced his engagement to the niece of his
housekeeper he made no comment further than to offer his
congratulations. He did not even know her name and when McGuire was told
that it was Beth Cameron, Peter did not miss his slight start of
inquiry. But of course, having only owned his acres of woodland for half
a dozen years, he knew little as to the origins of the inhabitants of
Black Rock and as Peter said nothing at that moment he asked no
questions and only listened to the forester's account of the progress of
the work and of the difficulties experienced in attempting to complete
the timber-contract. There was no way of improving the labor situation
and a visit to the camp proved to him that Peter had done all that could
be expected with the poor material at hand. On the way back they stopped
at the Cabin and Peter showed him the letter from Hawk Kennedy. And
there for a while they sat discussing plans to outwit the enemy and draw
his sting.

It was going to be no easy task and could only be accomplished by
Peter's apparent compliance with Kennedy's wishes in throwing in his lot
with Hawk and simulating an enmity for his employer. McGuire nodded his
head and listened soberly. The rest at the seashore had done him good
and he was disposed to meet the situation with courage, reflecting
Peter's own attitude of confidence and optimism, admitting that his
confession to Peter had lifted a weight from his shoulders and given him
the spirit to meet the issue, whatever it might be.

"You see," he said at last, "if the worst comes I'm in a pretty bad
hole. But it was the shock of meeting Hawk after all