“Oh, Gardy! You’re terrible. What do you propose to do?”
“You are Miss Baldwin’s host. You and I will take a canoe which Pierce is getting ready and go up to the mine.”
“You’re mad,” he muttered. “What shape am I in to go anywhere?”
“The doctor is up there. It’s a short paddle.”
“But I’m not fit, Gardy; I tell you it will set me back.”
“You’ve got the choice before you, Chanler. Do you want to drop back into what you’ve been for the past week, or do you want to be a man?”
“I feel so rotten, Gardy.”
“You’ve got a chance now with Miss Baldwin. You’re almost your old self. Come, man; this is your chance to win back your standing with her.”
“I haven’t got a chance,” he said despairingly. “That’s all off. I know it.”
“And you’re quitting—leaving Brack to have his own way?”