CHAPTER XXV
A CHANGE OF TACTICS
The fires of sunset were fading low down on the verge of the prairiewhen I spoke for the last time with Beatrice Haldane, as it happened,beside the splendid wheat. It was changing from green to ochre, andthere was a play of varied light athwart the rigid blades, which in itsown way emphasized the symmetry of the tall figure in pale-tinteddraperies. Miss Haldane was stately of presence, but it was symbolic ofthe difference between us that while we of the prairie ever turned oureyes instinctively towards the West, she stood looking back towardscivilization and the darkening East, with a cold green brilliancyburning behind her head. It matched the face projected against it, whichwas that of a statue, perfect in modeling, as I still think, if almostas colorless and serene. Beatrice Haldane was very beautiful, and everycurve and fold of the simple dress was immaculate and harmonious becauseit seemed a part of her.
My threadbare jean clung shapelessly about me, there was thick dust onmy old leggings and a rent in my broad hat, which trifles were, bycomparison, not without significance. Beatrice Haldane was clearly bornto take a leading place, with the eyes of many upon her, where lifepulsed fastest in the older world. I was a plain rancher, conscious, inspite of theories concerning its dignity, of the brand of rude labor andthe stain of the soil; but at least my eyes were opened so that I hadseen the utter impossibility of a once cherished dream.
"The prairie is very beautiful to-night, and surely this grain promisesa splendid yield," she said. "I am glad that it is so, for it will leavea pleasant memory. I shall probably never stand beside the wheat again."
This, I knew, was true. Beatrice Haldane would leave for Montreal andParis in a day or two, and, paying Bonaventure a farewell visit, she hadridden over with her father, who had business with me. Strange to say, Icould now contemplate her approaching marriage with equanimity.
"There are many drawbacks, but it is a good country," I answeredthoughtfully.
Beatrice Haldane looked at me, and again I felt that she could stilldraw my soul to the surface for inspection if she desired to. I alsofancied she knew her power, and wished to exercise it, but not frompride in its possession.
"And yet you can now hardly hope for more than a laborious life andmoderate prosperity. The prairie is often dreary, and the toil almostbrutalizing. Are you still content?"
The sympathy in the voice robbed the words of any sting, and I answeredcheerfully: "It is all that you say; but there are compensations, and Ithink no effort is thrown away. I can only repeat the old argument. Onecan feel that he is playing a useful part in a comprehensive scheme evenin the muddiest tramp down a half-thawn furrow, and that every ear ofwheat called up or added head of cattle is needed by the world. Perhapsthe chief care of three-fourths of humanity concerns their daily bread.Of course, our principal motive is the desire to attain our own, and youmay not understand that there is a satisfaction in the mere discoveringof how much one can do without, and, possibly as a result of this, thatone's physical nature rises equal to the strain."
"And what do you gain--the right to work still harder?" she asked. "Ican grasp the half-formed ideal in your mind, and it is old, forthousands of years before Thoreau men enlarged on it. Still, it hasalways seemed to me that the realization is only possible to the veryfew, and to the rest the result mostly destructive to the intellect."
I laughed a little. "And I am very much of the rank and file; but atleast I have no hope of emulating either the medieval devotees or themodern Hindoo visionaries. We practice self-denial from the prosaic lackof money, or to save a little to sink in a longer furrow, and endurefatigue more often to pay our debts than to acquire a bank balance. Yetthe result is not affected. The world is better fed."
"Yes," she said thoughtfully. "It seems that whatever your motives maybe these things possess virtue in themselves--but the virtues do notnecessarily react upon those who practice them."
"That is true," I answered. "Perhaps it is the motives that count."
Beatrice Haldane looked away towards the dying fires. "There was a timewhen you would not have been content."
The wondrous green transparency had almost gone, the dew touched thewheat, and we stood alone in the emptiness, under the hush that crept upwith the dimness from the east, and through which one could almost hearthe thirsty grasses drink. I knew now that I had never loved BeatriceHaldane as a man usually loves a woman, but had offered an empty homageto an unreality. Still, the semblance had once been real enough to me,and I could not wholly hold my peace and let her go. Furthermore, bothshe and her sister possessed the gift of forcing one's inmost thoughts,and there was a power in the quiet voice stronger than my will.
"No. I once had my ambitions and an ideal," I said. "At first theirrealization seemed possible, but I had my lesson. Even when I knew theideal was unattainable, the knowledge did not decrease its influence,and now, while smiling at past presumption, I can at least cherish thememory. I think you must have known part of this."
Beatrice Haldane had by knowledge attained to a perfection ofsimplicity, and, while my own was either the result of ignorance or bornin me, we met upon it as man and woman--the latter too queenly to stoopto any small assumption of diffidence.
"I guessed it long ago, and there was a time when I was pleased," shesaid. "However, it was doubtless well for you that, when contact withthe world taught me what we both were, I knew it was impossible. When wemet again on the prairie, you could not see that I was not the girl youknew in England. She had, in the meantime, bought enlightenment dearly;though whether it or her earlier fancies were nearer the hidden truthshe does not know."
"In one respect you can never change to me," I said. "The sunny-facedgirl in England will always live in my memory."
Beatrice Haldane smiled, though the fast fading light showed theweariness in her eyes. "Until you find the substance better than theshadow; and she must always have been unreal. Still, we are not proofagainst such assurances, and I am even now partly pleased to hear yousay so. Do you know that you have shamed me, Harry Ormesby?"
"That would be impossible," I said; and my companion smiled.
"Hold fast by your blunt directness if you are wise," she said. "I wasblinded by the critical faculty, and you rebuked me by clinging to yourvisionary ideal, while I--misjudged you. I do not mind admitting nowthat it hurt me, the more so when I found that Lucille, being--and thereis truth in the phrase--unspotted by the world, believed in youimplicitly. It was because of this I allowed you to speak as you havedone. I felt that I must ask your forgiveness, because we shall probablynever meet again."
Whether Beatrice Haldane was correct in her own estimate I do not know;but she was the most queenly woman I had ever met, and I lifted the renthat as I said: "Circumstances betrayed me, and you could do no wrong.Even if that had been possible, how far would one suspicion countagainst all that the girl in England has done for me? Now it onlyremains for us to part good friends--and with full sincerity I wish youevery happiness."
"Thank you," said Beatrice quietly; and without another word we walkedback towards the house together through the velvet dusk. I noticed thatLucille glanced at us sharply as we entered.
"You will not forget our appointment in Winnipeg," said Haldane, as theydrove away; and I stood still long after the vehicle had melted into theprairie. What I thought I do not remember; but it was with a dreamycalmness that, now the worst had passed, I returned to Crane Valley.
Reluctance mingled with my anticipation when I proceeded to Winnipeg atthe appointed time. The harvest was almost ready, and a brief holidaypossibly justifiable in anticipation of that time of effort; but thejourney was long and expensive, while, after our severe economies, I hadfallen into the habit of slow consideration each time I spent a dollar.Steel laughed when I said so, and pointed to the grain. "It's easier toget used to prosperity than the other thing," he said. "There is plentymoney yonder to start you again. If necessary you can remember you haveearned a good time."
The sight of the long waves of deepening ochre that rolled before thewarm breeze was very reassuring, though belief came slowly, and for daysI had feared some fresh disaster. Their rhythmical rustle, swelled bythe murmur of the wheat heads and the patter of the oats, made sweetmusic, for their undertone was hope, while the flash and flicker of thebending blades presaged the glitter of hard-won gold--gold that wouldset me a free man again. Then I was ashamed, and my voice a triflehusky, as I said: "I am certainly going to Winnipeg, Steel. If it hadnot been for the others the harvest would have left me in the grip ofLane, and now that the time has come I mean to stand by them."
I boarded the cars the more contentedly that there was a note in mypocket from Lucille Haldane. "Father tells me the time is ripe for youand your friends to strike at last," it ran. "I want to ask you toassist him in every way you can; and I wait anxiously to hear of yoursuccess."
I did not understand the whole plan of campaign, but gathered thatHaldane, with the support of our prairie committee, would make a "bear"attack on the company--which, while Lane held stock in it, had largelyfinanced him--and I looked forward with keen interest to the struggle.We others had done our best with plow and bridle, not to mention birchstaff and fork; but we had hitherto acted chiefly on the defensive, andnow an attack was to be pushed home with the aid of money and a superiorintellect.
Haldane was in excellent spirits when, accompanied by Boone, he greetedme in Winnipeg station. "I feel less rusty already, and you look severalyears younger than you did a few months ago," he said. "But we havebreakfast ready, and can talk comfortably over it."
The meal was a luxurious one, and Haldane's explanations interesting."Mr. Boone has taken a great deal of trouble to inquire into Lane'saffairs, with the assistance of a man Dixon recommended. Considering thedifficulties, I hardly think I should have succeeded better myself," hesaid.
Boone said this was an unmerited compliment; and Haldane laughed. "Well,the result, as anticipated, is this. Lane has most of his money lockedup in mortgages which he does not wish to foreclose on immediately,while we conclude that the rest is represented by shares in theTerritories Investment Company, which concern proposes to increase itscapital, and, as somebody has been trying to sell that stock quietly insmall lots, one may decide that he is short of money. We purpose toscare off buyers and depreciate his shares by selling them in handfulsas publicly as possible; or, in other words, to hammer the company."
"There are two points I am not clear about," I said. "We have not thestock to sell; and wouldn't it be a trifle hard on innocentshareholders?"
"We are finding out your capacities by degrees," said Haldane, with aquizzical glance at me. "In the first place, we take the risk of beingable to procure the stock when frightened holders rush on the market. Ifthey don't--well, there will be a difficulty. In the second place, thereare no innocent holders, or only a very few. The corporation is asemi-private concern--combination of second-rate sharpers of yourfriend's own kidney; and the few outsiders are professional speculatorswho take such risks as they come--they are only now thinking of anappeal to the general public. Here is the latest balance sheet, and Ipresume you are not anxious to see a continuance of that dividend wrungout of your friends on the prairie."
My anger flamed up once more as I glanced at the figures. I had seen howthat profit was earned--not by the company's agents, but by careworn menand suffering women, who toiled under a steadily increasing burden,which was crushing the life out of them. I had also received a laconicmessage from a combination of such as these: "Have paid in ---- dollarsto the B. O. M. We'll sell our boots to back you if Haldane's standingin. Do the best you can."
Then I brought my fist down on the table as I said: "I'd walk out abeggar to-morrow before that should happen. If this concern lives onlyby such plunder, for heaven's sake let us demolish it. I can't eatanother morsel. Isn't it time to begin?"
Haldane smiled, and touched a bell. "My principal broker should bewaiting."
A little, spectacled man, with a shrill voice and insignificantappearance, was ushered in, and, as I inspected him, Haldane's choicereminded me of the Hebrew shepherd's sling. He appeared a very feebleweapon to use against the giant who had oppressed us so grievously."Territories have been offering at several dollars' reduction," he said."Don't know why, unless it's the railroad uncertainty. You couldn't gethold of one under full premium until lately."
The speaker, in spite of his declared ignorance, answered Haldane'ssmile; and the latter said: "You can begin at a further five dollarsdown. Come round in the afternoon and tell us how you are progressing.Isn't there a race meeting somewhere about this place to-day?"
The broker said there was; and I was astonished when Haldane suggestedthat we might as well attend it, for this part of the conflict wasevidently to be fought on wholly novel lines. We drove to the meeting,and after the monotony of Crane Valley the sight of the light-heartedcrowd, the hum of voices and laughter, the gay dresses, and, above all,the horses, was exhilarating. Nevertheless, it was some time before thescene compelled my whole attention, for the issues of the business whichhad brought me to Winnipeg appeared far too serious to justify suchtrifling. By degrees, however, I yielded to the influence of thestirring spectacle, and was at length amazed to find myself shoutingwildly with the rest when a handsome chestnut broke out from the ruck ofgalloping horses a furlong from the post. Then, indeed, for a fewseconds I was oblivious of everything but the silk-clad figure and thebeautiful animal rushing past the dim sea of faces in the blaze ofsunshine behind, while the roar of hoofs and the human clamor set mequivering. It was all so different from anything I had heard or seen onthe silent prairie. Boone returned presently, and I stared at the silvercoins he placed in my palm.
"You don't look satisfied, Ormesby, with the result of your few dollars.Are you sorry I did not lay a decent stake, or have you been infected byLane?" he said; and I answered him dryly: "I'm sorry that, withouttelling me, you staked anything at all. It is so long since I had anymoney to risk on such amusements--and it does not seem fair to theanxious men waiting on the prairie."
Haldane laughed. "It is generally wise to make the most of a pleasantinterlude, because the average man does not get too many of them. Ifthis strikes you as trifling, Ormesby, you will find grim enoughamusement before we are through."
It was afternoon when we returned to the city, and we recommenced thecampaign by a sumptuous lunch, during which the broker came in. "I'vebeen offering Territories until I'm hoarse," he said. "There was somesurprise and talking, but nobody wanted to buy; and, while it's anhonor to serve you, I don't see much of a commission in this."
"You will, if I know my opponents," said Haldane significantly. "Takeoff two more dollars, and, if there are any buyers, don't let them thinkyou're not in earnest. You can put another of your friends on."
The broker departed and left me wondering. It struck me that to reducethe value by open quotations should have been enough, without saddlingourselves with contracts when we did not hold the stock; but it seemedthat cautious slowness was not Haldane's way. He next insisted onplaying billiards with me, and he played as well as I did badly, for myfingers had grown stiff from the grip of the plow-stilts and bridle, andwe had small opportunity for such amusements on the prairie. Nothing ofimportance happened during the remainder of the day, but I have a clearrecollection of how the throb of life from the busy city reacted on meas we sat together on a balcony outside the smoking-room after dinner.It was a hot night, and the streets were filled with citizens seekingcoolness in the open air. The place seemed alive with moving figuresthat came and went endlessly under the glare of the great arc lights,while the stir and brilliancy appeared unreal to me. The air throbbedwith voices, the clank of great freight trains in the station, and thehum of trolley cars; while only one narrow strip of sky appeared betweenthe rows of stores, and that strip was barred by a maze of interlacingwires. I felt as though I had awakened from a century's sleep on theprairie.
"Somewhat different
from Crane Valley," said Haldane, pointing with hiscigar towards the crowded wires. "I wonder how many of those are chargedwith our business--it is tolerably certain that some of them are. Wehave cheerfully thrown down the glove, and now the forces of fire andair and water are all pressed into the service of spreading ourchallenge across the continent. There's a mammoth printing machine inyonder building reeling it off by the thousands of copies every hour inits commercial reports, and those papers will be rushed east and westto warn holders in Quebec or Vancouver to-night. Also, by this time,Lane, wherever he is, will be spending money like water to keep thewires humming. Feel uneasy about the explosion now that you have helpedto fire the train?"
"I feel curious both as to why you should take so much trouble to helpus, sir, and as to the enemy's first move," I said.
"To keep myself from rusting, for one thing, and because Lane is one mantoo many down our way," was the careless answer. "If that does notappear a sufficient motive I may perhaps mention another when we havewon. As to the other affair, Lane will, so long as his means hold out,buy--or urge his friends to--while we sell. Just how far can you and themen behind you go?"
I named a sum, which Haldane noted. "With what Boone and I have decidedto put up it will be enough if all goes well. If not--but we will nottrouble about that. This contract strikes me as a trifle too big forLane," he said.
I retired early, but scarcely slept all night. I felt that the strugglewould commence in earnest on the morrow, and Haldane's words had warnedme that our nerve and treasury might be taxed to the utmost before wemade good the challenge we had so lightly, it seemed to me, sentbroadcast across the Dominion.