“I wish I had been Mr. Wentworth,” said Brooke. “I would have retained you in my employ even if you had been guilty in the first place. I don’t believe in condemning a man utterly for one offense.”
“I wish more men were as charitable as yourself,” said John Carter, for this, as he afterward informed Gerald, was his name.
“But how did you happen to come to Colorado?” asked Noel Brooke.
“I was tired of persecution. In fact I had been employed in so many factories, all of which were now closed against me, that I decided to earn a living some other way. I had a little money left, and I traveled westward. I came to Colorado because it was a new country, and there must be something here for an industrious man to do. It has been rather hard on poor Oscar,” he added with an affectionate glance at his son. “For latterly my money gave out, and we have more than once gone hungry, as we would have done to-day but for your kindness.”
He was about to rise and leave the cabin but Gerald stopped him.
“Wait a minute, Mr. Carter,” he said. “I have an arrangement to propose.”
Carter regarded him with a glance of inquiry.
“I have made an engagement to travel with my friend, Mr. Brooke,” Gerald went on, “and this cabin will be untenanted. If you are willing to occupy it you are welcome to do so. You will be sure to find some employment, and if not you can hunt and fish. What do you say?”
“What can I say except that I am grateful? I am not afraid but that I can make a living for myself and Oscar, and I shall not live in constant fear that Clifton Haynes will find me out and expose me.”
“I wish he would happen along about this time,” said Noel Brooke. “I should like nothing better than to get a chance at the fellow. One thrashing isn’t enough for him.”