Nasmyth sat silent. There was no doubt that the comfort and refinement of the old life appealed to one side of his nature, and there were respects in which his present surroundings jarred on him. It is also probable that, had the offer been made him before he had had a certain talk with Laura Waynefleet, he would have profited by it, but she had roused something that was latent in him, and at the same time endued him with a vague distrust of himself, the effect of which was largely beneficial. He had realized then his perilous propensity for what she had called drifting, and, after all, men of his kind are likely to drift fastest when everything is made pleasant for them. It was characteristic that he looked inquiringly at Gordon, who nodded.
“I think you ought to go, if it’s only for a year or two,” 136 said Gordon. “It’s the life you were born to. Give it another trial. You can come back to the Bush again if you find it fails.”
Nasmyth appeared to consider this, and the two men watched him intently, Wisbech with a curious expression in his shrewd eyes. Then, somewhat to their surprise, Nasmyth broke into a little harsh laugh.
“That there is a possibility of my failing seems sufficient,” he said. “Here I must fight. I am, as we say, up against it.” He turned to Wisbech. “Now if you will listen, I will tell you something.”
For the next few minutes he described his project for running the water out of the valley, and when he sat silent again there was satisfaction in Wisbech’s face.
“Well,” said Wisbech, “I am going to give you your opportunity. It’s a thing I insist upon, and, as it happens, I’m in a position to do it more or less effectually. I have letters to folks of some importance in Victoria––Government men among others––and you’ll go down there and live as you would have done in England just as long as appears advisable while you try to put the project through. It is quite evident that you will have to get one of the land exploitation concerns to back you, and no doubt a charter or concession of some kind will have to be obtained from the Crown authorities. The time you spend over the thing in Victoria should make it clear where your capacities lie––if it’s handling matters of this kind in the cities, or leading your workmen in the Bush. I purpose to take a share in your venture, and I’m offering you an opportunity of making sure which is the kind of life you’re most fitted for.”
“I guess you ought to go,” remarked Gordon quietly.
Nasmyth smiled. “That,” he agreed, “is my own opinion.”
“Then we’ll consider it as decided,” said Wisbech. “It seems to me I could spend a month or two in this 137 province very satisfactorily, and we’ll go down to Victoria together, as soon as you have carried out this timber-cutting contract.”
They talked of other matters, while now and then men from the railroad gang dropped in and made themselves pleasant to the stranger. It must be admitted that there are one or two kinds of wandering Englishmen, who would not have found them particularly friendly, but the little quiet man with the twinkling eyes was very much at home with them. He had been endued with the gift of comprehension, and rock-cutter and axeman opened their minds to him. In fact, he declared his full satisfaction with the entertainment afforded him before he lay down upon his bed of springy spruce twigs.