's got his own way now. He's got a man who wouldn't blink at
throttling his own brother, if it'd do him any good. Tarboe is iron and
steel; he's the kind that succeeds. He likes to rule, and he's going to
get what he wants mostly."

"Is that why you're going away?" asked Fabian. "Don't you think it'll be
just as well not to go, if Tarboe is going to get all he wants?"

"Does Tarboe come here?"

"He's been here twice."

"Visiting?"

"No. He came on urgent business. There was trouble between our two
river-driving camps. He wanted my help to straighten things out, and he
got it. He's pretty quick on the move."

"He wanted you to let him settle it?"

"He settled it, and I agreed. He knows how to handle men; I'll say that
for him. He can run reckless on the logs like a river-driver; he can
break a jam like an expert. He's not afraid of man, or log, or devil.
That's his training. He got that training from John Grier's firm under
another name. I used to know him by reputation long before he took
my place in the business--my place and yours. You got loose from the
business only to get tied up in knots of your own tying," he added.
"What it is I don't know, but you say you're in trouble and I believe
you." Suddenly a sharp look came to his face. "Is it a woman?"

"It's not a man."

"Well, you ought to know how to handle a woman. You're popular with
women. My wife'll never hear a word against you. I don't know how you
do it. We're so little alike, it makes me feel sometimes we're not
brothers. I don't know where you get your temperament from."

"It doesn't matter where I got it, it's mine. I want to earn my own
living, and I'm doing it." Admiration came into Fabian's face. "Yes," he
said, "and you don't borrow--"

"And don't beg or steal. Mother has given me money, and I'm spending my
own little legacy, all but five thousand dollars of it."

Fabian came up to his brother slowly. "If you know what's good for you,
you'll stay where you are. You're not the only man that ought to be
married. Tarboe's a strong man, and he'll be father's partner. He's
handsome in his rough way too, is Tarboe. He knows what he wants, and
means to have it, and this is a free country. Our girls, they have their
own way. Why don't you settle it now? Why don't you marry Junia, and
take her away with you--if she'll have you?"

"I can't--even if she'll have me."

"Why can't you?"

"I'm afraid of the law."

An uneasy smile hung at Carnac's