aid Harry. "A woman's heart, and the strength of
three ordinary men. Still, when Jasper starts in with a rush no man can
say where he'll finish, and we may hear next that he has been all round
Winnipeg on our account borrowing money."

Then the new partner, who was splitting firewood close by, laid down his
axe as he said: "Hope you'll introduce me to Jasper some day. From what
you say, he is a man worth knowing."

There were two more letters, and the next--my fingers trembled as I opened
it--was from Grace. It was dated from Starcross House, in Lancashire, and
written in frank friendliness, expressing regret for our misfortune,
which, it seemed, she had heard about, and ending: "But by this time you
will have learned that there are ups and downs in every country, and I
know you both have the courage to face the latter. So go on with a stout
heart, believing that I and all your other friends look for your ultimate
success." To this there was a postscript: "I met your cousin, Miss
Lorimer, the other day, and was sorry to find her very pale and thin. She
had just recovered from a serious illness, and seemed troubled when I told
her how you had lost your harvest."

I placed the thin sheets reverently in an inside pocket, and read them
afterward over and over again, because I might not answer them. She had
written out of kindly sympathy when the news of our trouble first reached
her, and that was all; while I felt I could not write a mere formal note
of thanks--and more than this was out of the question now. Nevertheless, I
was thankful for her good wishes, and then I stood silent under the
starlight, staring down the misty coulee and thinking of Cousin Alice as
mechanically I stripped the envelope from the next letter. She had always
been ailing, even in the days when we were almost as brother and sister;
and now I longed that I might comfort her as in my periodical fits of
restlessness she used to soothe me. That, however, was impossible, for my
cousin was part of the sheltered life I had left behind across the sea,
and I was in Western Canada with a very uncertain future before me.

Then, moving back into the light of the lamp, I read the last letter. With
a gasp of astonishment, I handed it to Harry, saying: "I can make nothing
of this. Who in the wide world can have sent the money?"

He laid down the spider, and, bending until the glow from the tent door
fell on the paper, read:

"Mr. Ralph Lorimer, of Fairmead.