“Helen’s money.  I can’t beg from her, after refusing the only thing she has asked.”

“You’re a bit of a fool,” Charnock remarked with a grin.  “I’ve begged from Sadie often and imagine she liked me for it; anyhow she expected it.  But if you have made up your mind, I expect I can’t persuade you.”

Festing’s gesture indicated an unshaken resolve, and Charnock said:  “Then I’m going to stop and see you through.”

“That’s ridiculous!” said Festing, who was strongly moved now.  “You must think of Sadie.  You can’t stop; I won’t allow it!”

Charnock’s eyes twinkled.  “I expect Sadie will bear the separation.  For one thing, we lost our crop and she’ll save money while I’m away.  She’s not parsimonious, but she hates to waste dollars, and must have found me expensive now and then.  Then I mean to earn something, and can imagine her surprise when I show her my wages check.”

On the surface, his mood was humorous, but Festing got a hint of something fine beneath.  “But,” he said, “you mustn’t stay, and I’d sooner you didn’t joke.”

“Then I’ll be serious; but after this there’s no more to be said.  Don’t imagine it’s altogether for your sake I’m going to stay.  You know what I owe Sadie, and I want to show that her labor has not all been lost. in fact, I’ve got my opportunity and mean to seize it.  Then if you feel some reparation is due to your wife, you can finish the work you made her drop.  Help me to cut out liquor and stay with my job, and if you have trouble with your contract, I’ll help all I can.  Is it a bargain?”

“It’s a bargain,” said Festing quietly.  “Now I think we’ll talk about something else.”

He sat still for some time after Charnock left.  His bitterness against his wife had gone, and it was plain that he had been a fool.  For all that, he could not go home yet; the money was still an obstacle.  Pride forbade his letting Helen support him.  Moreover, he felt that to act against his convictions now would cost him her respect.  There was perhaps no ground for supposing she felt much respect for him, but he meant to keep all she had.

Then he got up and straightened the blankets in his bunk.  The sooner he finished his contract, the sooner he could return, and there was much to be done next morning.  The job had not begun well.

He got up at sunrise and spent several days repairing the damage the accident had caused, after which, for a time, things went smoothly.  Then, one morning, he stood on a rocky ledge of the island, waiting while two of his men dragged an iron pulley backwards and forwards along a trolley wire.

The morning was clear and cold, and the snow had crept nearer the belt of dwindling pines that looked like matches tufted with moss.  They grew in size as they rolled down the tremendous slopes, until they towered above the track in tall, dark spires.  The mist had gone; rocks and trees and glistening summits were sharply cut, but the valley was rather marked by savage grandeur than beauty.  There was something about its aspect that struck a warning note.  It had a look of belonging to a half-finished world, into which man might only venture at his peril.