“Yes,” said Winston simply.  “It is but the beginning, and there will be a reflux before the stream sets in.  Wait a little, sir, and then telegraph your broker to cover all your contracts when the price drops again.”

“I fancy it would be wiser to cut my losses now,” said Barrington dryly.

Then Winston did a somewhat daring thing, for he raised his voice a trifle, in a fashion that seemed to invite the attention of the rest of the company.

“The more certain the advance seems to be, the fiercer will be the bears’ last attack,” he said.  “They have to get from under, and will take heavy chances to force prices back.  As yet they may contrive to check or turn the stream, and then every wise man who has sold down will try to cover, but no one can tell how far it may carry us, once it sets strongly in!”

The men understood, as did Colonel Barrington, that they were being warned, as it were, above their leader’s head, and his niece, while resenting the slight, admitted the courage of the man.  Barrington’s face was sardonic, and a less resolute man would have winced under the implication as he said: 

“This is, no doubt, intuition.  I fancy you told us you had no dealings on the markets at Winnipeg.”

Winston looked steadily at the speaker, and the girl noticed with a curious approval that he smiled.

“Perhaps it is, but I believe events will prove me right.  In any case, what I had the honor of telling you and Miss Barrington was the fact,” he said.

Nobody spoke, and the girl was wondering by what means the strain could be relieved, which, though few heard what Barrington said, all seemed to feel, when out of the darkness came a second beat of hoofs, and by and by a man swaying on the driving-seat of a jolting wagon swept into the light from the windows.  Then, there were voices outside, and a breathless lad came in.

“A big grass fire coming right down on Courthorne’s farm!” he said.  “It was tolerably close when I got away.”

In an instant there was commotion, and every man in Silverdale Grange was on his feet.  For the most part, they took life lightly, and looked upon their farming as an attempt to combine the making of dollars with gentlemanly relaxation; but there were no laggards among them when there was perilous work to be done, and they went out to meet the fire joyously.  Inside five minutes scarcely a horse remained in the stables, and the men were flying at a gallop across the dusky prairie laughing at the risk of a stumble in a deadly badger-hole.  Yet, in the haste of saddling, they found time to arrange a twenty-dollar sweepstake and the allowance for weight.