"No, not for a single moment. Whether I have done any good or dispensed the Royal Bounty is not for me to judge. But in living among men on the ragged edge of civilisation and trying to help them body and soul has given me great happiness. I would not exchange my lot for the most favoured being on earth."
There was a long silence when Dick ended his story. He sat quietly by Nance's side, and compared the past with the present. He had fondly believed that his life was full to overflowing. But now what a difference. There was added a new happiness, a love such as he had never experienced before.
Martin, too, was silent. Thoughts, too deep for words, were passing through his mind. In his heart as well as in Dick's a new life had arisen, although of a far different nature.
CHAPTER XIX
BEGINNINGS
Morning dawned clear and fresh. The sun was abroad early, and the filmy mist hovering over the lake soon vanished before the hot rays. The gold-seekers on the shore were astir at break of day. Some, in fact, had been busy all night selecting suitable sites and pitching their tents. The steamer was nearly unloaded, and the captain was anxious to hurry down the river as speedily as possible to return with another cargo before the summer was over.
The miners had chosen this spot for their encampment because it was on the side of the Quaska River where the gold had been discovered. They would thus not have to cross the stream, but simply follow the trail to the diggings. They wished to settle near the lake so that the steamers could land their goods right at their doors, otherwise it would be difficult to take the whole of their supplies up river. They could easily pack what they would need for several days, and could always come back to the lake for more.
Dick stood in the door of Martin's house watching the animated scene across the river. Not a ripple stirred the surface of the lake, and the dark trees and the towering mountains were reflected in the clear, deep water. It appealed to his poetic nature. He had beheld many grand sights since coming north, but this was the most beautiful and majestic upon which he had ever gazed. "What grandeur," he mused, "and to think that she has been living here in the midst of it all for years, far away from the tumult of the world."
A step at his side caused him to turn, and his eyes rested upon the object of his thoughts.