"I understand," said Barbara. "Still, there are no strangers here, and I don't think you have a man who would attempt anything of that kind about the mine." "Or at the canyon?" Barbara was sensible of a curious little thrill of anger, for Brooke was at the canyon, but she looked at him steadily. "No," she said. "I am quite sure that is the last thing one would expect from anybody at the canyon, but if we stay here Katty will be wondering what has become of me." Devine rose and followed her out of the room, and in another half-hour the ranch was in darkness. He rode away early next morning, and the big, empty living-room seemed lonely to the two women who sat by the window when night drew in again. The evening was very still and clear, and the chill of the snow was in the motionless air. No sound but the distant roar of the river broke the silence, and when the white line of snow grew dimmer high up in the dusky blue, and the pines across the clearing faded to a blur of shadow, Mrs. Devine shivered a little. "I suppose quietness is good for one, if only because it isn't very nice, but it gets a trifle depressing now and then," she said. "Why didn't you ask Mr. Brooke to come across?" "You may have noticed that he never comes when my brother-in-law is not here, and then he brings drawings or estimates of some kind with him." Mrs. Devine appeared reflective. "Grant has not been away for almost two weeks now, and it is quite that time since we have seen Mr. Brooke," she said. "Didn't we ask him to come when you had Minnie here?" "You did," said Barbara, with a faint flush, which the shadows hid. "He asked me to excuse him." "Because Grant was away?" "No," said Barbara, drily. "That, at least, was not the reason he gave me. He said he was--too tired." Mrs. Devine laughed, for she had noticed the hardness in her sister's voice. "It really must have been exasperating. He should have thought of a better excuse," she said. "You have only to hold up a finger at Vancouver, and they all flock round, eager to do a good deal more than you wish them to, while this flume-builder doesn't seem to understand what is implied by a royal invitation. No doubt you will find a way of making him realize his contumacy." "I am almost afraid I shall not have the opportunity." "And you can't very well attempt to make one, especially as I remember now that Grant told me he was very hard at work at the canyon. It would be even worse to be told he was too busy, since that implies that one has something better to do." Barbara had a spice of temper, as her sister naturally knew, but she smiled at this, for she was unwilling to admit, even to herself, and much less to anybody else, that she felt the slightest irritation at the fact that Brooke had shown no eagerness to avail himself of the invitation she had given him. Still, she was, on this score, very far from feeling pleased with him. "I dare say he has," she said.