“Yes, tell me who took the money, and why, and where to find it, and I pledge you my word—my honour—that you shall walk out of court not only free, but justified. Remember, you trust me. You say you trust me—you do trust me.” She raised her hand and held the spread fingers, pointed, towards his temples, her eyes were within a palm’s width of his. “Remember, you trust me, Raymond, you trust me. This log shall rise in witness against you before I do. You trust me—tell me—ALL.”
With a curse he threw her from him. “This, then, is your love, your honour, your—your perfidy. God judge between me and you this night!”
[CHAPTER IX—A FUGITIVE]
| “Ever the sun sets in the west; Yellow and gold; Ever a face to a window prest; Can it behold, Large in the lens of the dying light, Wandering boy, in joy or plight, Trudging sturdily into the night, Fearless and bold?” The Empire Builders. |
Dominion Day was the big day of the year at Plainville. Then the baseball teams from all the towns around gathered in the Agricultural Grounds for the final contest of the season, as the approach of haying time would soon give the young men other outlets for their energy. Baseball was the great game of the district, but in order to afford some variety of attraction there would also be a football match between the English and Canadian born—an event usually marked with much friendly enthusiasm. The Englishmen had been schooled in the rudiments of the game on the playgrounds of the motherland, but years behind the plough or in the harvest field had left the flesh strangely unequal to the spirit. The Canadians, on the other hand, knew less of the game but trusted more to the pioneer qualities of force and endurance, although George Grant said his chief difficulty was in dodging the h’s dropped by his opponents. Then there were pony races, usually won by some unheralded farm plug, to the disgust of the “sports”; a tug-of-war, married men against single, in which the benedicts, thanks to avoirdupois, were invariably victorious, while the Plainville brass band discoursed uncertain music to the appreciative throng.
But it is not with the celebration of Dominion Day that you and I are concerned, much as we should enjoy an afternoon with the husky young athletes of the prairie. Other events, essential to the progress of our story, were under way, and demand our attention.
By common consent the Plainville stores remained open on Dominion Day until eleven in the forenoon, when they closed to enable the proprietors and their staffs to enjoy the day’s celebration. It had been a busy forenoon, and Burton was hurriedly sweeping up behind the grocery counter after the blinds had been drawn, when Graves approached and leaned over the counter, watching him. Burton was conscious of the eyes upon him, and at length looked up. It was evident his fellow employee had something on his mind.
“I want to say that I have a rather disagreeable piece of information for you, Burton,” said Graves, after a moment’s hesitation. “Did you ever wonder why I came out here and took this job with Gardiner?”
“No, I can’t say that I did,” the other replied. “I supposed you were looking for employment and this was the first thing to turn up. But there has been nothing disagreeable to me about it.”
“Unfortunately there will be, shortly, and I assure you the whole thing, as it is turning out, is little to my liking. Burton, you’re not suspicious enough for a criminal career. Do I look like a store clerk?”