more money. In three or four years she could sell the hotel and store
for a large sum and, as she thought of it, give herself a chance.

She was young, clever, and attractive, and had recently tried to
cultivate her mind. It was laborious work and she had not much time, but
the clergyman of the little Episcopal church gave her some guidance and
she made progress. For one thing, she was beginning to talk like Bob
and thought he noticed this, although she had not told him about her
studies. She meant to be ready to take her part in a wider and brighter
life when she left the settlement. Knowing little about large towns, she
exaggerated the pleasures they could offer. Montreal, for example, was
a city of delight. She had been there twice and had seen the Ice Palace
glitter against the frosty sky, the covered skating rinks, the jingling
sleighs, and the toboggans rushing down the long, white slides. Then
she remembered afternoon drives in summer on the wooded slopes of the
Mountain, and evenings spent among the garish splendors of Dominion
Park, where myriads of lights threw their colored reflections upon
the river. Since then, however, her taste had got refined, and she now
admitted that if she lived at Montreal it might be better to cut out
Dominion Park.

But she pulled herself up. It looked as if these delights were not for
her. She could enjoy them, if she wanted, in a few years' time, but the
risk was great. Bob might go to pieces while she earned the money that
would open the gate of fairyland. Although she had checked the pace a
little, he was going the wrong way fast. Sadie knitted her dark brows as
she nerved herself to make a momentous choice.

On the one hand there was everything she longed for; on the other much
that she disliked--monotonous work, the loneliness of the frozen prairie
in the bitter winter, the society, at very long intervals, of farmers
who talked about nothing but their crops, and the unslackening strain
of activity in the hot summer. Sadie thought of it with shrinking; she
would soon get old and faded, and Bob, for whose sake she had done so,
might turn from her. Yet there was danger for him if they stayed at the
settlement. He had too many friends and whisky was always about. She
must save him from the constant temptation and must do so now.

For all that, she struggled. There were specious arguments for taking
the other course. Bob had failed as a farmer and would certainly fail
again i