“Ah,” said Kit, “when you get to the obstacles that bother you they begin to melt. The proper plan’s to set your mouth and shove ahead. Since you left Whinnyates I imagine you have gone some distance, but until you get where you want you mustn’t stop.”
“You’re an optimist,” Alison remarked with a smile. “Have you gone far?”
“I’ve gone back” said Kit rather moodily. “All the same, I am not beaten, and I expect to make a fresh start.”
For a few minutes Alison said nothing and Kit was quiet. He thought she sympathized and perhaps she was curious, but he doubted if she wanted him to give her his confidence. Anyhow, he had not boasted; he was not beaten. In the meantime he was sorry for Alison. For a girl to face loneliness and struggle in a new country was hard. All was fresh and to some extent antagonistic. She must obey rules she did not know and be resigned to much that jarred.
Kit thought Canadians had not much use for beginners, and to find an occupation might be awkward. He wondered whether Alison was daunted, and admitted he did not know. She was quiet and perhaps rather melancholy, but that was all. Anyhow, he could not help. At Winnipeg their roads forked and each must start alone. Kit owned he did not want to think about it.
“I wonder whether I can telegraph when we get to Winnipeg,” Alison said by and by. “If Florence knew when I’d arrive, she would meet me. One likes to be met. I’d hate to get off the cars and see nobody I knew. But perhaps the office will be shut.”
“I fancy the Canadian telegraph offices do not shut, and after a fixed time you can send a night letter, a long message for a small charge. We’ll send your friend a summons that will bring her to the station. After weighing words against pennies in England we can be royally extravagant.”
“Is your habit to weigh your words?” Alison inquired.
“In a telegram, yes,” said Kit. “I don’t know if it’s strange, but as a rule the pennies tipped the beam. When my remarks cost something, I’m parsimonious.”
Alison gave him a kind smile. “You’re modest. At all events, I’m glad you were not parsimonious on the train. Your humor helped——”