Vane smiled, but there was a suggestive sparkle in his eyes.
"Yes; we have them both, and that's something to be thankful for. The sea and the mountains—the two grandest things in this world!"
"If you think that, how did you reconcile yourself to the city?"
"I'm not sure that I've done so." He indicated the gleaming heights.
"Anyway, I'm going back up yonder very soon."
Mrs. Nairn glanced at Carroll, who affected to be busy with a rope; then she turned to Vane.
"It will no be possible with winter coming on."
"It's not really so bad then," Vane declared. "Besides, I expect to get my work done before the hardest weather's due."
"But ye canna leave Vancouver until ye have settled about the mine!"
"I don't want to," Vane admitted. "That's not quite the same thing."
"It is with a good many people," Carroll interposed with a smile.