“Nothing’s fixed, but I reckon you might take two days off and buy winter clothes at Winnipeg,” said Wheeler, smiling. “You’ll want the clothes, any way.”
“But suppose you kept me, what about Austin?”
Wheeler’s look got aggressive and he pushed forward his firm jaw.
“Where Austin goes is the company’s business. Bob’s a useful man, and if we move him, I reckon he’ll be all right, but it hasn’t much to do with you, and you can pull out.”
Kit went. One did not dispute with Wheeler, and his stating that Austin would be all right was important, since it indicated that he wanted to satisfy Kit. As a rule, Wheeler was not apologetic.
When Austin came in for supper Kit narrated his interview, and noting the other’s thoughtful look, remarked with a touch of embarrassment: “If I thought my staying might be awkward for you, I’d give up the idea.”
“For you to refuse would be ridiculous,” Austin rejoined. “I must go where the bosses send me, and when they push ahead in spring I’d, no doubt, get back. Then the winter’s fierce, and I expect Carrie would like it better at an Eastern town. Well, the thing’s not fixed.”
He resumed his supper, and when the meal was over Kit pulled his chair to the stove. He had agreed he would not for a stipulated time write to Evelyn, but he wanted Mrs. Haigh to know his luck was turning, and he hoped she would give Evelyn the short note he enclosed. Then he wrote to Alan Carson. He knew Alan was interested, and believed he would inform Evelyn about his progress. Kit was young and hopeful, and he rather let himself go.
In the morning the light frost broke, and it looked as if Indian summer had returned. The sky was blue and calm, and pale sunshine touched the plain. Nobody, however, was cheated, and when dusk fell the blast-lamps’ white fires tossed along the bridge. Winter was coming, and the piers must be braced and the girders stiffened before the arctic frost began.
For a time Kit did not see Austin much. As a rule, when one was at the bridge the other slept, and when they met for meals they were tired and did not talk. Some material, however, did not arrive, and one morning Austin said: