When he came down to breakfast his host was already seated with a bundle of letters before him, and one addressed to Courthorne lay unopened by Witham’s plate. The officer nodded when he saw him.
“The trooper has come in with the mail, and your friends in Canada are not going to worry you,” he said. “Now, if you feel like staying here a few days, it would be a favour to me.”
Witham had in the meanwhile opened the envelope. He knew that when once the decision was made there could only be peril in half-measures, and his eyes grew thoughtful as he read. The letter had been written by a Winnipeg lawyer from a little town not very far away, and requested Courthorne to meet and confer with him respecting certain suggestions made by a Colonel Barrington. Witham decided to take the risk.
“I’m sorry, but I have got to go into Annerly at once,” he said.
“Then,” said the officer, “I’ll drive you. I’ve some stores to get down there.”
They started after breakfast, but it was dusk next day when they reached the little town, and Witham walked quietly into a private room of the wooden hotel, where a middle-aged man with a shrewd face sat waiting him. The big nickelled lamp flickered in the draughts that found their way in, and Witham was glad of it, though he was outwardly very collected. The stubborn patience and self-control with which he had faced the loss of his wheat crops and frozen stock stood him in good stead now. He fancied the lawyer seemed a trifle astonished at his appearance, and sat down wondering whether he had previously spoken to Courthorne, until the question was answered for him.
“Although I have never had the pleasure of meeting you before, I have acted as Colonel Barrington’s legal adviser ever since he settled at Silverdale, and am, therefore, well posted as to his affairs, which are, of course, connected with those of your own family,” said the lawyer. “We can accordingly talk with greater freedom, and I hope without the acerbity which in your recent communications somewhat annoyed the Colonel!”
“Well,” said Courthorne, who had never heard of Colonel Barrington, “I am ready to listen.”
The lawyer drummed on the table. “It might be best to come to the point at once,” he said. “Colonel Barrington does not deem it convenient that you should settle at Silverdale, and would be prepared to offer you a reasonable sum to relinquish your claim.”
“My claim?” said Witham, who remembered having heard of the Silverdale Colony, which lay several hundred miles away.