CHAPTER XXIV
Mr. Selincourt is Confidential
The hot colour flamed in Katherine's cheeks; but no one saw it, forher back was to the group of men talking by the store door, andMiles had turned round to put on the counter the box which she hadreached down for him.
"Why did Mr. Ferrars wish to see me?" she asked, strivingsuccessfully to make her voice steady. Of course it might havebeen that Jervis wanted to see her on some matter of businessconnected with the store; but in any case, and whatever his errand,it was pleasant to think that he had come up the river on purposeto see her.
"I don't know, he didn't say; but he carried himself with as muchswaggering importance as if it were he, and not Mr. Selincourt, whointended buying up as much of Roaring Water Portage as he could layhands upon," Miles answered, in a grumpy tone. The group of men atthe door had moved outside, where it was cooler, so brother andsister were for the moment alone.
"I don't think Mr. Ferrars ever put on much side," protestedKatherine, taking up the cudgels in defence of the absent one,although there was an increased heaviness in her heart as shereflected that perhaps, after all, he was betrothed to MarySelincourt, and hence the inward elation resulting in the outwardswagger.
"Oh, he could, sometimes!" went on Miles, who appeared to be inrather a bad temper just then. "I suppose he is going to marryMiss Selincourt, and that is why he puts on such a fearful lot ofcheek. Downright horrid money-grubbing, I call it, for before shecame he was always----"
"Always what?" demanded Katherine sharply. Her voice sounded atrifle muffled, because for some reason or other she had stuffedher head and shoulders in a bean bin, and was measuring beans in adesperate hurry, which seemed a rather unnecessary task, as she hadno orders to fill.
But Miles, who had stumbled perilously near to an indiscretion,plainly thought better of it, and ventured on no more speechconcerning the matter, calling instead to one of the men standingoutside the door to ask some question about goods which had beenordered for the next day, and had to be sent down to Seal Cove.
Katherine went to bed in a very mixed frame of mind that night. Atone moment she was sorry that she had not been at home when Mr.Ferrars came to see her; then, with a quick revulsion of feeling,she was heartily glad that she had been away, and shrank with veryreal reluctance from the thought of the next time she would have tosee him. But that would not be for another week; a good manythings might happen before then, though she did not even guess howmany were going to happen.
In the morning Mary came over to the store very early indeed, andher face was in a pucker of dissatisfaction and discontent.
"It is so truly horrid of things to fall out like this," she beganvehemently, bursting into the store, where Katherine and Miles werebusy weighing and packing goods which had to be delivered that day.
"How have they fallen out?" asked Katherine with a smile. She wasused to Mary's excitable outbursts, which were usually abouttrifles too small for notice; but this was a bigger matter.
"The men came up with the mail yesterday; the delay was owing to abreakdown on one of the portages, and they had to camp for a wholeweek whilst they were repairing their boat. It is very vexing,coming as it does just now, because we should have known our fateso much earlier. We have to go back to Montreal for the winter,and it is so tiresome!" sighed Mary.
"I'm afraid you won't get much pity for your hard fate," laughedKatherine, with a lightening of heart which made her secretlyashamed of herself. "I found Montreal very pleasant for winterquarters, and I only wish it were possible for us to spare Miles togo for this next winter."
"I don't want to go!" interposed Miles hastily.
"Neither do I, Miles," said Mary; "so we are both in the same boat.Only the worst of it is I have got to go, whether I like it or not,because my father will not leave me here without him. Suchnonsense! As if I were not old enough to take care of myself!"
"Which you are not. Remember the tidehole," Katherine remarked, ina tone of mock solemnity.
"Once bitten, twice shy! No more tideholes for me," Mary answered,with a shake of her head. Then she went on: "I have brought oversome newspapers for Mr. Radford, but there was no public mailmatter in this lot except some English letters for Mr. Ferrarswhich had come directed to our agent in Montreal; so we sent themstraight down to Seal Cove yesterday afternoon without troublingthe post office at all."
"That was very kind of you. If they had been sent here I shouldhave had to deliver them last night after I got back from the longportage," Katherine answered, as she took the bundle of paperswhich Mary put into her hand.
"Which would have been a great shame, for I am sure that you musthave been tired out. Besides, you would have been too late, forMr. Ferrars sailed for the Twins last night with the evening tide;and I have got to be clerk and overseer whilst he is away, so Imust be off. Don't you wish me joy of my work?"
"I certainly hope that you will enjoy it," Katherine replied, andMary went off in a bustle, calling for Hero, who was her constantcompanion morning, noon, and night, a sort of hairy shadow, anddevotion itself.
When she had gone, Katherine sighed a little, then said to Miles,who still looked a trifle sullen: "I do wish it had been possiblefor you to go to the city this autumn. I know Father wished it somuch, and here would have been a good opportunity for your journey,because you could have gone with the Selincourts, then you wouldnot have felt so lonely. I know that I nearly broke my heart whenI went, because of feeling so solitary."
"I am very glad that I can't be spared, because I simply don't wantto go, and should not value the chance if I had it," Milesanswered. "I will settle to work at books again directly wintercomes, and will put as much time in as I can spare at them,especially at book-keeping. Education is not much good to peoplewho don't want it; and I would rather work with my hands any daythan work with my head. But of course there are some things I mustknow to be a good man of business, and these I can learn at home, Iam thankful to say."
Katherine dropped the sugar scoop with which she had beenshovelling out brown sugar, and, crossing over to where Miles wasstanding, gave him a hearty hug and a resounding kiss.
"What is that for?" he asked, with a wriggle of pretended disgust,although there was a lifting of the sullen look in his face.
"Because you are such a thoroughly good sort," she answered. "Youhave been such a comfort, Miles, ever since Father was taken ill;it was just as if you went to bed a boy and woke up a man."
When the boys had been started off to Seal Cove with a boatload ofgoods, and Katherine had tidied away the litter in the store, shewent into the stockroom at the back to spread out the furs inreadiness for the coming of Mr. Selincourt. In an ordinary way shewould have taken them over to Fort Garry to-day, but with theprospect of a customer they could wait for a more convenient time.
She was still busy spreading out and arranging pelts of black fox,white fox, silver fox, beaver, skunk, and racoon (there werewolfskins in plenty, too, but these she did not produce, as theywere commoner, and so would doubtless not appeal to the rich man'sfancy); then she heard a noise of knocking in the store, and,running out, found that Mr. Selincourt and an Indian had arrivedtogether.
Neither of them was in the slightest hurry. But Katherine attendedto the red man first, being desirous of getting rid of him, thenwatched him down the bank and waited until he had embarked in hisfrail canoe before attending to her other and more importantcustomer.
"Please pardon me for keeping you waiting," she said, turning withsmiling apology to Mr. Selincourt; "but that is Wise Eye from OchreLake, and he is the wiliest thief on the river. Ah, I thought so!He is coming back again. Quick! stand back in that corner behindthe stove, and you will see some fun."
Mr. Selincourt promptly flattened himself into a small spacebetween a bag of meal and a barrel of molasses, while Katherinedived into a recess by the bean bin, and then they waited, holdingtheir breath as children do when playing hide-and-seek.
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bsp; It was a good long wait, for Wise Eye was a shrewd rogue. Then Mr.Selincourt from his corner saw a figure on all-fours coming overthe doorstep. At first he thought it was a dog, because of thepeculiar sniffing sound it made, but a second glance showed it tobe Wise Eye in search of plunder. Gradually, gradually he edgedhimself inside, creeping so silently that there was no sound atall, and a thievish hand had just shot out to annex a bag of ricethat stood within reaching distance, when Katherine emerged intoview and said quietly: "You can't have that rice unless you pay forit, Wise Eye; we don't give things away."
The red man erected himself with a shocked look, as if insulted bythe bare mention of stealing, and, opening a dirty hand, showedhalf a dollar tucked away in his palm.
"Wise Eye not want the rice, nor anything, but what he pay for," heanswered loftily; "but he drop his money here and come look for it,just to find it lying close to rice bag, and now he find it he saygood morning and go."
Katherine laughed, for, angry as Wise Eye's depredations made her,it was amusing to find him bowled out once in a while.
"Had the fellow really lost his money?" asked Mr. Selincourt,coming out from his hiding-place very sticky on one side and veryfloury on the other.
"He has none to lose except that one bad coin, which is hisgreatest treasure, and which he has tendered in payment so oftenthat I am quite sick of the sight of the thing," Katherine replied."But he keeps the coin ready as an excuse, do you see? I guessedhe would try coming back, because you said that you had come to seethe furs, and he knows we do not keep those out here in the store."
"Well, he is a wily rogue! What are you going to do now?" askedMr. Selincourt, as she moved across to the door.
"Turn the key on him; it is the only thing to do. These Indiansare really a great trial; we have to keep such a sharp lookoutalways. It is because of them that we never dare leave thingsoutside unless there is someone to watch."
"Your father is sitting out there in the sun," said Mr. Selincourt,who could never seem to realize the extent of 'Duke Radford'slimitations.
"I know, but he would not understand, poor dear; he never noticesthings like that," Katherine answered, with a mournful drop in hervoice, as she turned the key and led the way to the stockroom.
Mr. Selincourt followed silently, and when Katherine first began toshow him the furs he looked at them with an abstracted gaze, whichshowed his thoughts to be far away. But his interest grew in thebeautiful things after a time, and he selected with a judgment anddiscretion which showed that he knew very well what he was about.When he had bought all that he required he turned away from them,and began to talk of the matter which was uppermost in his mind.
"Well, have you come to any decision about disposing of your land?"he asked.
"Yes," answered Katherine, who was busy rearranging the pelts whichMr. Selincourt had rejected. "We had a family consultation, andthe majority settled the question, and decided that we did not wantto sell, and that we had not sufficient reason for selling even ifwe had wanted it very much indeed. Our business is paying verywell, and there is no need to upset existing arrangements."
Mr. Selincourt nodded his head thoughtfully, then he answered: "Imust say I think you have done wisely; although, of course, it isagainst my own interest to admit it, because I wanted to buy. Butit is a very hard life for a girl."
"It will be easier in a few years, when Miles grows up; and he getsbigger and more capable every day. Oh, I shall have a very easytime, I can assure you, when my brother is a man!" she said, with alaugh.
"I trust you will, and a good time too, for I am sure that no girlever deserved it more than you do," he replied warmly. Then hewent on: "I had a very hard time myself when I was a young man, anexperience so cruelly hard and wearing that sometimes I wonder thatI did not lose faith and hope entirely."
"But don't you think that faith and hope are given to us inproportion to our need of them?" asked Katherine, a littleunsteadily. Her heart was beating with painful throbs, for sheguessed only too well to what period of his life Mr. Selincourt wasreferring.
"Perhaps so. Yes, indeed I think it must be so, otherwise I don'tsee how I could have pulled through. I have recalled a good dealabout that time since I have been here at Roaring Water Portage,and have seen how you have had to work, and to sacrifice yourselffor the good of others; and I have often thought that I should liketo tell you the story of my struggle. Would you care to hear it?"
"Yes, very much," Katherine answered faintly, although, much as shewished to know all about it, she dreaded hearing the story of herfather's wrong-doing told by other lips than his own.
"When I was a very young man I was clerk in a Bristol businesshouse, taking a good salary, and, as I believed, with anunblemished character. My father was dependent on me, and twoyoung sisters, and I was rather proud of being, as it were, thekeystone of the home. Then one day an old friend of my father'scame to see me, and paid me fifty pounds, which he said he had owedto my father for twenty years--a gambling debt. He begged andimplored me to say no word about it to anyone, especially to myfather."
"Why not, if it was your father's debt?" asked Katherine, who waskeenly interested.
"Because my father would not have taken it, although twenty yearsbefore he had paid the fifty pounds out of his own pocket, to savethis friend of his from exposure and ruin. At first I was disposednot to take it either; but, as the man represented to me, I hadothers dependent on me, and for their sakes I was in duty bound totake it, and to do the best I could for them with it."
"I think so too," murmured Katherine; but Mr. Selincourt continuedalmost as if he had not heard her speak.
"I took the money and banked it with my other savings, feelingrather proud of having such a nest-egg, and making up my mind thatwhen the summer came I would give the girls and the old man such aholiday as they had never even dreamed of before. Then the blowfell. I was called into the room of the chief one morning, andasked if I were a gambler. Of course I said no, and that with avery clear conscience, for I had never been addicted to betting norcard playing in my life. Then I was asked to explain the lump sumof fifty pounds which I had added to my banking account in theprevious week."
"But I thought that banking accounts were very private andconfidential things," said Katherine.
"So they are supposed to be; but the private affairs of a fellow inmy position would be sure to get closely overhauled, and a shrewdbank manager might deem it only his duty to enquire how anyone withmy salary and responsibilities could afford to pay in big sums likethat," Mr. Selincourt replied. "Of course I could not explain how Ihad come by the money, and to my amazement I was curtly dismissed,and without a character."
"How horribly cruel!" panted Katherine, whose hands were pressedagainst her breast, and whose face was deathly white. No one knewhow terribly she suffered then, as she stood there bearing, as itwere, the punishment for her father's guilty silence, while shelistened to the story of what his victim had had to endure.
"It did seem cruel, as you say, horribly cruel!" Mr. Selincourtsaid, a grey hardness spreading over his kindly face, as if thememory of the bitter past was more than he could bear. "The twoyears that followed were crammed with poverty and privation; therewas almost constant sickness in the home, and I could get no workexcept occasional jobs of manual labour, at which any drayman ornavvy could have beaten me easily, by reason of superior strength.I left Bristol and went to Cardiff, hoping that I might lose mywant of a character in the crowd. But it was of no use. 'Give adog a bad name and hang him', is one of the truest proverbs we'vegot. What is the matter, child?" he asked, as an involuntary sobbroke from poor Katherine.
"Nothing, nothing; only I am so sorry for you!" she cried, breakingdown a little, in spite of her efforts after self-control.
"You need not be, as you will hear in a moment; and, at any rate, Idon't look much like an object of pity," he said, with a laugh. "Iwas on the docks one winter evening, wet, dark, and late, when Isaw a man robbed o
f his purse. I chased the thief, collared thepurse, and took it back to its owner, who proved to be one of therichest merchants of the town. He wanted to give me money. I toldhim that I wanted work. I told him, too, about my damagedreputation, and my inability to clear myself."
"Did he believe you?" she asked eagerly.
"He did; or if he didn't then, he did afterwards. Years later headmitted that for the first twelve months of my time with him hepaid to have me watched; but that was really to my advantage, as Icame scatheless through the ordeal."
"It was really good of him to take so much interest in you," saidKatherine.
"So I have always felt," Mr. Selincourt answered. "Christopher Raystood to me for employer and friend. In course of time he becamestill more, for he gave me his daughter, Mary's mother, and when hedied he left me his wealth."
"It was not all a misfortune for you, then, that for a time you hadto live under a cloud," said Katherine eagerly.
"Rightly speaking it was not misfortune, but good fortune that cameto me when I lost position and character at one blow. I have oftenthought that perhaps I owed my downfall to someone who either saidabout me what was not true, or kept silent when a word might haveput me straight; but, if so, that person was my very good friend,and it is to him, or to her, that I owe the first step to thesuccess which came after."
Poor Katherine! One desperate effort she made after self-control,but it was of no use, and, covering her face with her hands, sheburst into tears.