第21章

Then，let’sseewhathappened。Oh，yes。Thequestionofthemancameup。Whowastheman？TheSuperintendentwasreadyfor’em。ItwasMacgregorofsomeplace。FrogLake？No，LoonLake。Thentheoppositionthoughttheyhadhimwithahalf—nelson。OldDr。

Macfarrenjumpedontothechiefwithbothfeet。Hismanwasnogood，aflatfailureinhisfield，notact。Begyourpardon，MissFairbanks。Whatdidyousay？"

"Oh，nevermind，"saidHelen。"Goon。"

"Heappealedforcorroborationtohisfriend，thechapupatParkChurch，youknow，thatsleek，kid—glovedfellow。"

"Burns？"askedBrown，innocently，delightedinthereporter’sdescriptionofLloydanddesiringmoreofit。

"No。Youknowthatoratorchap，liquideyes，mellifluousvoice，andalltherestofit。"

"Oh，Lloyd。"

"Yes。Well，hetookawhirlandbackedupMacfarren。Evidentlydidn’tthinkmuchoftheSuperintendent’schoice。RemarkedabouthisbeingaHighlander，amanofvisionsandthatsortofthing。"

"Whatelsedidhesay？"inquiredBrown，whowasinaparticularlyhappymood。

"Oh，alotofstuff，inhismostlordly，patronizingtone。Macgregorwasaverygood，earnestfellow，butheshouldjudgehimtobelackingintactoradaptability，finesensibilities，andthatsortofrot。Butnevermind。Didn’thecatchit！Oh，no。MySallyAnn！

Boilinglardandbluevitriol，andallinthechief’smostsweet—

scentedlavenderstyle，thoughallthetimeIcouldseethedangerlightsburningthroughhisport—holes。ItellyouI’vehadmydiminishedmoments，butIdon’tthinkIwaseverreducedtosuchashadeastheParkChurchchapwhentheSuperintendentwasthroughwithhim。Servehimright，too"

"WhatdidtheSuperintendentsay？"continuedBrown，delightedtofindsomebodywhowouldexpresshisownsentimentswithmoreforceandfulnessthanhecouldcommand。

"Say！Well，IwishIcouldtellyou。’Mr。LloydsaysheisaHighlander。Yes，heis，thankGod。SoamI。Heisamanofvisions。

Yes，hehasvisionbeyondthelimitsofhisowncongregationandofhisownnativecross—roads，visionforwhatliesbeyondthehorizon，visionforthosemeninthemountainswhoaregoingtothedevil。’A

quotation，MissFairbanks，Iassureyou。’Theseminersandlumbermen，forgottenbyallbuttheirmothers，andGod。’Say，itwasgreat。IfIcouldreproduceittherewouldbeaEuropeantripinit。

ThenheturnedonDr。Macfarren。ItseemsthatMacgregorsomehowhadtoquitsomeplaceintheWestonthepleathathewasnotadaptable，andthatsortofthing。’Dr。Macfarrensayshewasafailure，’wentontheoldchief，usingatleastfiver’s，’Mr。Lloydsaysheisnotadaptable，heislackinginfinesensibilities。ItistrueGoddidnotmakehimwithsleekhair’——which，byJove，wastrueenough——’anddaintyfingers。Andagoodthingitwas，elseourchurchatLoonLake，builtbyhisownhands，thelogscut，shapedandsetinplace，sir，byhisownhands，wouldneverhaveexisted。

HewasafailureattheFort，wearetold。Why？Imadeinquiriesconcerningthat。IwastoldbyagentlemanwhocallshimselfaPresbyterian——Ineednotmentionhisname——thathewasnotsuitabletothepeculiarlyselectandhigh—tonedsocietyofthatplace。No，sir，ourmissionarycouldnotbowandscrape，hewasafailureattennis，hedidnotshineatcardparties，’andhereyoucouldsmellthingssizzling。’Hecouldnotsmileuponlust。No，thankGod！’andtheoldchap’svoicebegantoquiverandshake。’Inallthishewasafailure，andwouldtoGodwehadmoreofthesamekind！’’Amen，’

’ThankGod，’’That’strue，’themenaroundthetablecried。I

thoughtIhadstruckaMethodistrevivalmeeting。"

"Whatelsedidhesay？"saidBrown，whocouldhardlycontainhimselfforsheerdelight。

"Well，hewentonthentoyarnaboutMacgregor’swork——howachurchandclubhousehadbeenbuiltinoneplace，andahospitalandallthatsortofthing，inanother，andthenhetoldusstoriesofthedifferentchapswhohadbeenapparentlysnatchedfromthemouthofhellbyMacgregor，andwerereadytoliedownandlethimwalkoverthem。Itwasgreat。TherewasanIrishmanandaFrenchman，I

remember，bothRomanCatholics，butbothreadytoswallowtheConfessionofFaithiftheProspectororderedthem。Yes，thatwasanotherpoint。Macgregor，itseems，wasaregularfiendforhuntingupfellowsandrootingthemouttochurch，andsotheydubbedhim’theProspector。’Theoldchiefstuckthatin，Itellyou。Thentherewasadoctorand，oh，alotofchaps，——acowboyfellownamedIke，whowasparticularlygoodcopyifonecouldreproducehim。Andthen——"hereTommyhesitated——"well，it’sworthwhiletelling。Therewasagirlwhohadgonewrong，andhadbeenbroughtback。Tohearthechieftellthatyarnwasprettyfine。Idon’tturnthewaterworksonwithoutconsiderablepressure，butItellyoumytankscameprettynearoverflowingwhenhetalkedaboutthatpoorgirl。

Andthen，atthemostdramaticmoment——thatoldchapknowshisbusiness——hebroughtonMacgregor，announcinghimas’theProspectorofFrogLake，no，LoonLake。’Well，hewasnotmuchtolookat。Hishairwasnotslick，andhisbeardlookedalittlelikeapaintbrush，hispantsranuponhisboots，andbaggedattheknees。"

"Hehadjustcomeoffthetrain，"hastilyinterposedBrown，"Hehadn’tamomenttodresshimself。"

"Well，asIsay，hewasn’tprettytolookat，andtheygavehimakindoffrostyreception，too。"

"Well，whathappened？"inquiredBrown，anxioustogetoverthispartofthedescription。

"Well，theybeganfiringquestionsathimhotandfast。Hewasalittlerattledforawhile，butafterabithegotintohisstride，putdownhismap，laidouthiscountryandbeganpouringinhisfacts，tillwhentheylethimouttheylookedforalltheworldlikealotofmenwhohadbeenstruckbyawhirlwindandweretryingtogetbacktheirbreathandotherbelongings。"

"Well，whatdidtheydothen？"

"Oh，thethingpassed，Iguess。Ileft’emandwentafterthemanfromtheWest。IthoughtIhadstruckoil。Ihadvisionstoo。"

"Well，didyougethim？"

"Idid，buttherewasnotanyoil。Itwasrock，hard，coldScotchgranite。I’msomethingofaborer，butItellyouwhat，heturnedmyedge。Itwasnouse。Hewouldn’ttalk。"

"Goodby。Comearoundandseeyourmanatmyrooms，"saidBrownheartily。"I’llpumphimforyou，andyoucancatchtheoil。"

"Youwill，eh？Allright，setamugforme。"

"Greatboy，thatTommy，"saidBrown，whowassmittenwithasuddenenthusiasticadmirationforthereporter。"Cleverchap。He’llmakehismarkyet。"

Helenwalkedforsomedistanceinsilence。"Is——ishe——isMr。

Macgregorwithyou？"sheinquiredatlength。

"Yes，Mr。Macgregoriswithme，"mimickedBrown。"Willyousendhimacard？"

"Now，Brownie，stop，"saidHelenindistress。"Hehasnotbeenhomeyet，hashe？"

"No。Why？"

"Couldyoukeephimawaytillabouteleventomorrow？"

"Yes，IsupposeImight。Hehasgottogetsomeclothesandgetsomeofthewooloffhim。Butwhydoyouask？"

"Well，IthoughtIwouldjustruninanddust，andputsomeflowersup，and，youknow，makeitalittlemorehomelike。"

"Helen，you’reabrick。IhaddecidedtodropyoubecauseIdidn’tloveyou，butIamchangingmymind。"

"Well，donotlethimgobeforeeleven。Everythingwillberightbythattime。"

"Good！"saidBrown，withanebullitionofrapture，whichheimmediatelysuppressedasHelen’seyeswereturnedinquiringlyuponhim。"Yousee，"heexplainedhurriedly，"hehasbeenintheWestandwillneedtogetalotofthings，andthatwillgiveyouplentyoftime。There’smycar。Good—by。Wehavehadahappyafternoon，eh？"

"Oh，yes，veryhappy，thankyou，"saidHelen，butshecouldnotquitesuppressalittlesigh。

"Well，good—by，"saidBrown，andhewentoff，jubilanttohiscar。

Hesatdowninacorner，andthoughthardtillhecametohisstreet。"Ifhe’llonlyplayupwe’llwin，surething。Butwillhe，confoundhim，willhe？Well，thekick—offwillbeto—morrow。"

HefoundShockwaitinginhisrooms，withafacesograveandsosadthatBrown’sheartgrewsoreforhim。

"Comeon，oldchap，we’llgotogrub。ButfirstIamgoingtogroomyouabit。We’lltakeafootortwooffyourhairsincethefootballseasonisover;a