"Yes," said Thorne simply. "Farquhar will no doubt explain the thing. There's a very tough fight in front of me. I don't think I could have undertaken it six months ago." He spread out his hands. "It's unthinkable that I should be beaten!"
Alison felt strangely stirred by something in his voice.
"Then," she urged, "you will have to win! You must; I want you to!"
Thorne looked at her with a gleam in his eyes that set her heart throbbing painfully fast.
"Now," he laughed, "the thing seems almost easy!"
He turned away after his wagon, and Alison waited until Farquhar came up with Grantly.
"What has Thorne undertaken?" she asked.
Farquhar smiled.
"I'll try to tell you after supper. In the meanwhile, I can only say that he seems determined on breaking himself up by attempting a task that in my opinion is beyond the power of any man on the prairie."
He went into the house with Grantly, and it was an hour or two later before Alison was able to form a fairly accurate idea of the situation. Then her heart grew very soft toward Thorne, and she thought of him with a sense of pride. It was for her sake he had braced himself for this most unequal fight, and she knew that he meant to win.