His word at least had never been broken, and had he not adhered steadfastly to his own rigid code, he would have been a good deal richer man than he was then.

Nor did his little shortcomings which were burlesqued virtues, and ludicrous now and then, greatly detract from the stamp of dignity which, for speech was his worst point, sat well upon him.

He was innately conservative to the backbone, though since an ungrateful Government had slighted him, he had become an ardent Canadian, and in all political questions aggressively democratic.
"My dear, I sometimes fancy I am a hypercritical old fogy!" he said, and sighed a little, while once more the anxious look crept into his face.

"Just now I wish devoutly I was a better business man." Nothing more was said for a little, and Miss Barrington watched the crimson sunset burn out low down on the prairie's western rim.

Then the pale stars blinked out through the creeping dusk, and a great silence and an utter cold settled down upon the waste.