"Then we'll see what can be done. It won't be your fault if the venture fails."
Harding smiled. "There's hard work and perhaps some trouble ahead, but you won't regret you faced it. You'll be a rich man in another year or two."
Then Emile urged the dogs, and they set off after the others as fast as they could go. Sweetwater was safely reached, but on the morning after his arrival there Blake pushed on south for the railroad with the police and a week later caught a steamer in Montreal. On landing, he took the first train to Shropshire, but before going on to Sandymere called at Hazlehurst, where he had learned that Mrs. Keith was staying.
As it happened, Mrs. Keith was out with Mrs. Foster, and Millicent was the first to welcome him. She started when he was shown into the hall, and, dropping the book she was reading, rose with a tingle of heightened colour, while he felt his heart beat fast. It was a clear winter afternoon and the sunshine that entered a window fell upon the girl. Blake thought she looked very beautiful, and, thrown off her guard as she had been, he caught the gladness in her eyes before she could hide it.
"I expect you are surprised at my turning up," he remarked.
"Yes," she said with a shyness she could not overcome. "Indeed I was startled when you came in, but of course it's pleasant to see you safely back. I knew Colonel Challoner had given orders for you to be traced if possible, and that you had been found, but that was all Mrs. Keith told me. I suppose she didn't know—didn't think, I mean—that I was interested."
"I'd like to believe that was foolish of her," Blake answered with a twinkle.
Millicent laughed; though she felt that his rejoinder did not adequately express his feelings, his humorous manner set her at ease.
"It really was foolish," she said, smiling. "But you must have some tea and wait until she comes. I don't think she will be long."
The tea was brought, and she studied him unobtrusively as he sat opposite her at the small table. He had grown thin, his bronzed face was worn, and he looked graver than he had done. Though she could not imagine his ever becoming very solemn, it was obvious that something had happened in Canada which had had its effect on him. Looking up suddenly from his plate, he surprised her attentive glance.