The words were greeted with a wild yell of exultation. Beaten--beaten at last, the Great Bull! Smashed! The great corner smashed! Jadwin busted! Cheer followed cheer, hats went into the air. Men danced and leaped in a frenzy of delight.
Young Landry Court, who had stood by Jadwin in the Pit, led his defeated captain out. Jadwin was in a daze--he saw nothing, heard nothing, but submitted to Landry's guidance.
From the Pit came the sound of dying cheers.
"They can cheer now all they want. They didn't do it," said a man at the door. "It was the wheat itself that beat him; no combination of men could have done it."
IV.--A Fresh Start
The evening had closed in wet and misty, and when Laura Jadwin came down to the dismantled library a heavy rain was falling.
"There, dear," Laura said, "now sit down on the packing-box there. You had better put your hat on. It is full of draughts now that the furniture and curtains are out. You've had a pretty bad siege of it, you know, and this is only the first week you've been up."
"I've had too good a nurse," he answered, stroking her hand, "not to be as fit as a fiddle by now. You must be tired yourself, Laura. Why, for whole days there--and nights, too, they tell me--you never left the room."
Laura shook her head, and said:
"I wonder what the West will be like. Do you know I think I am going to like it, Curtis?"