ith growing confidence.
He did not want to make much of his exploits, but there was a charm in
talking about things he knew to two clever and attractive girls, and
they helped him with tactful questions. Indeed, he was surprised to find
they knew something about the rugged country in which he wandered.
He told them about risky journeys up lonely rivers in the spring,
adventurous thrusts into the wilderness where hardship was oftener to be
found than valuable minerals, and retreats with provisions running out
before the Arctic winter.

Something of the charm of the empty spaces colored his narratives as
he drew from memory half-finished pictures of the mad riot of primitive
forces when the ice broke up and the floods hurled the thundering floes
among the rocks; and of tangled woods sinking into profound silence
in the stinging frost. Moreover, he unconsciously delineated his own
character, and when he stopped, the others understood something of the
practical resource and stubbornness that had supported him.

It was encouraging to see they were not bored, but he did not know that
Miss Jardine had found him an interesting study and had skilfully led
him on. He was a new type to both girls, although Helen was nearer
to him than the other and sympathized where her companion was amused.
Festing's ideas were clean-cut, his honesty was obvious, and she noted
that he did not know much about the lighter side of life. Yet she saw
that, sternly practical as he was, he had a vague feeling for romance.

"Will you stay on the railroad when it's finished?" she asked presently.

"I've left it. I hadn't the proper training to carry me far, and as the
road is opening up the country I've bought a prairie farm."

"But do you know much about farming?"

"I don't. As a matter of fact, not many of the boys do know much when
they begin, but somehow they make progress. On the plains, it isn't what
you know that counts, but the capacity for work and staying with your
job. That's what one really needs, if you see what I mean."

"I think I do," Miss Jardine replied. "A Victorian philosopher, whose
opinions you seem to hold, said something of the kind. He claims that
genius takes many different forms, but is not different in itself. That
is, if you have talent, you can do what you like. Build railroads, for
example, and then succeed on a farm."

Festing laughed good-humoredly. "It's a pretty big thing to claim, but
that man was near the mark;