'Recruiting for New Police Force Commences,' said the headlines of the clipping. 'Officers in City.'
There followed a description of the measures which were about to enforce the new North-West Mounted Police Act. It seemed that three hundred men 'who should be mounted as the Government should from time to time direct,' were being assembled for duty as military constabulary in the North-West Territories. 'No person shall be appointed to the Police Force unless he be of sound constitution, active and able-bodied, able to ride, of good character, able to read and write either the English or French language and between the ages of 18 and 40 years.' This extract had shown Hector that he could easily qualify.
The clipping came from a Toronto paper and was dated August, 1873.
Here was his chance. It was 'now or never.' Fate or Destiny had placed that item in his hands, for a purpose, and that purpose must be fulfilled. Then and there, Hector had resolved to accept the chance....
There was in the dining-room at Silvercrest, carved in stone above the fireplace, a crest and motto, the coat-of-arms of the Colonel's branch of the Adair family. Hector, in the old days, had eagerly gained from his father a full knowledge of the meaning of every device and had even become capable, in time, of reciting every syllable of the heraldic language describing the coat-of-arms. This had been placed upon the shield to commemorate the gallantry of an Adair at Bannockburn; that to symbolize the endurance of another at Sluys. The history of the family was written in the design. And it bore not one vestige of dishonour.
"Remember, Hector," the Colonel had often said fiercely, "the shield is clean. Mind you keep it so!"
Beneath the clean shield was the motto, consisting of two words only, but in these words also might be read the story of a mighty line:
'Strong.—Steadfast.'
All that 'Strong' can mean, all that 'Steadfast' can imply,, the Adairs had always been. Woe betide the luckless wight who should be the first to deviate from it!
'Strong! Steadfast!'