McEwen had abruptly ceased to be a rebellious and difficult patient.

The doctor's orders had been obeyed; the leg had healed rapidly; and he no longer threatened or cajoled Mrs.Ginnell on the subject of liquor.

As far as Anderson was concerned, he was generally sulky and uncommunicative.

But Anderson got enough out of him by degrees to be able to form a fairly complete idea of his father's course of life since the false report of his death in the Yukon.

He realised an existence on the fringe of civilisation, with its strokes of luck neutralised by drink, and its desperate, and probably criminal, moments.
And as soon as his father got well enough to limp along the trails of the Laggan valley, the son noticed incidents which appeared to show that the old man, while playing the part of the helpless stranger, was by no means without acquaintance among the motley host of workmen that were constantly passing through.