heir
character was clearly defined. Neither the land nor the people had been
tamed by cultivation yet. One missed the delicate half-tones on the
prairie, but one heard and thrilled to the ringing note of endeavor.

When she looked west the land was empty to the horizon, and a flock of
big sand-hill cranes planed down the wind. An animal she thought was
an antelope moved swiftly through the waves of rippling grass. When she
turned east she saw a plume of black smoke roll across the sky and the
tops of three elevators above the edge of the plain. It was a portent,
a warning of momentous change, in which she and her husband must play
their part. What that part would be she could not tell, but the curtain
was going up, and on the whole she approved the stage and scenery.

Helen had been some time in Canada and did not feel daunted. The
sunshine and boisterous winds were bracing; one felt optimistic on the
high plains, and the wide outlook gave a sense of freedom. She had many
duties, but did not find them burdensome, or feel the strain of domestic
labor she had been warned about. For one thing, her money had enabled
Festing to arrange his household better than he had expected and hire
useful help.

She took a rough trail through the bluff, picking her way among the
holes and rotting stumps, and as she rode out the horse plunged. After
calming the startled animal she saw a dirty handkerchief snapping in the
wind at the top of a stick. Close by a team cropped the grass and the
end of a big plow projected from the back of a wagon. There seemed to be
nobody about, but after riding on a few yards she saw a man lying among
some bushes with a pipe in his mouth. He looked half asleep, but got
up as she advanced, and she stopped her horse with a jerk and tried to
preserve her calm. Charnock stood looking at her with a half-embarrassed
smile.

"Bob!" she exclaimed. "I didn't think I'd ever meet you."

"I hope it wasn't a shock, and we were bound to meet sooner or later.
The distance between our homesteads isn't great."

Helen had heard where his homestead was. Indeed, Festing had told her
that if he had known Charnock was coming to Donaldson's farm, he would
have located farther off. She would sooner have avoided the meeting, but
since it had happened, she must not cut it too short.

"But what is the handkerchief for?" she asked. "And why were you lying
there?"

"It's a signal of distress. Another trail crosses the rise a mi