“Words that were very carefully chosen, no doubt!”

“Well,” said Lawrence, “I’m frankly puzzled; the more I think about our adventure, the harder it is to decide how much one could hold Walters accountable for.  It was difficult to throw me up the rope without slipping, and there was only a small, projecting rock, on which he might have broken his bones, to prevent his tobogganing to the bottom.  If he had slid past it, he would have been killed.”

“Walters wouldn’t hesitate about a risk.  It might have looked like an accident if you hadn’t heard Foster’s story.”

Lawrence knitted his brows, rather impatiently.  “After all, Jake’s a romantic fellow, and his explanation’s theatrical.”

“You don’t like theatrical things,” Mrs. Stephen interposed.  “You must admit that they happen, but you feel it’s ridiculous that they should happen to you.”

“I imagine I do feel that,” Lawrence agreed with a smile.  “When they happen to somebody else they’re not so unnatural.”

Lucy tried to preserve her self-control, but her tone was sharp as she said, “Then you feel inclined to forgive Walters the pain and illness he caused you.”

“It would be harder to forgive him your anxiety,” Lawrence rejoined, and his face set hard.  “In fact, if I knew he really had plotted the thing------” He paused and resumed:  “One would be justified in killing a brute who could do what you imagine, but there’s a difference between hating a crime and punishing the man accused of it before you have proved his guilt.  In the meantime, I’m trying to keep an open mind.”

“But you will be careful and not trust him far,” Lucy urged.

“I’ll run no risks; I’ve some ground for being cautious.”

Lucy said no more.  Lawrence was not well yet and sometimes got obstinate if one argued with him.  She thought he would be prudent, but it was comforting to remember that she had telegraphed for his comrade.  Unfortunately, she did not know that her message was then in the page’s pocket.  He had waited some time for Walters’ telegram, and when he reached the station found the agent gone.  In consequence, fearing a reprimand, he resolved to send the messages in the morning and say nothing about the matter.

The next day was clear and calm, with bright sunshine on the snow, and Mrs. Stephen agreed when Lawrence insisted on going for a short walk with her and some of the guests.  Walters joined the party, although Lucy tried to leave him behind, and they leisurely climbed a winding path among the pines.  The snow was thin and crisp beneath the trees, the air exhilarating, and through openings they caught glimpses of fissured glaciers, rocks that glistened in the steely light, and majestic glittering peaks.  The pines were straight and tall, and the great soft-colored trunks rose in long climbing ranks against the blue shadow on the snow.

They stopped for a few minutes at the foot of a crag, and then Lawrence, who had been sitting rather slackly on a log, got up with a shiver.