The Right of Way, Volume 1.

ee, four, fiv

he fisherman, spear in hand, staring into the dark waters tinged with sombre red; the voice of a lonely settler keeping time to the ping of the axe as, lengthening out his day to nightly weariness, he felled a tree; river-drivers' camps spotted a

t, ma boul

ant ma

ot to see or to hear, to be unresponsive to sound or scene. The monocle at his eye was like a veil to hide the soul, a defence again

ose life had been spent in doing wonders and making signs-the primitive, anthropomorphic being. He might have been a stone man, for any mot

it said. What a limitless futility! it urged, fain to be cont

o fields of baffling speculation, lighted by the flickering intelligences of dead speculators, whose seats we have bought in the stock-exchange of mortality

like the tiger!" He turned his head quickly now to

an in the fig

ill carry

rimitive world, where action was more than speech and dominance than knowledge. Was not civilisation a mistake, and religion the insinuating delusion designed to cover it up; or, if not

coeur, and a sinister smile crossed over his face. The contradictions of his own thoughts came home to him suddenly, for was it not the case that his physical strength alone, no matter what his skill, would be of small

sounds from the floor of cedar logs. There was a swamp on one side where fire-flies were flic

r a grave too

l so warm

lf in his brain in a s

sharp I'll be there. Give yourself a drink and some supper"-he put a dollar into the man's hand-"and no white whiskey, mind: a bottle of beer and a leg of mutton, that's

nd he's a sort of tough too-a sort of a kind of a tough. Well, it's none of my business. Get up!" he added to the horse, and tu

coarse river-drivers! But she had an alert precision of brain, an instinct that clove through wastes of mental underbrush to the tree of knowledge. Her mental sight was as keen and accurate as that which runs along the rifle-barrel of the great hunter with the red deer in view. Suzon Charlemagne no company for Charley Steele? What did it matter! He had entered into other people's lives to-day, had played their game

ever say in the great round-up that I was weak and I fell. I'll take my gruel expecti

ned to speak. Some satanic whim or malicious foppery made Charley stare him blankly in the face. The monocle and the sta

is "six-foot" height, and his temper was friendly if quick. It seemed so absurd, so audacious, that a man could act like Charley Steele, that he a

by piles, with steps down to the water-side. Seldom was there an hour when boats were not tied to these steps. Summer and winter the tavern was a place of resort. Inside, the low ceiling, the broad rafters, the great fireplace, the well-worn floor, the deep windows, the wooden cross let into the wall, and the varied and picturesque humanity frequenting this great room, gave it an air of romance. Yet there were people wh

eady assembled, drinking white "whiskey-wine," he had no intention of setting

ease!" he said. "Why do I drink, do you say?" he add

y: "Perhaps because you like it; perhaps because so

s ears came close to them, and called gruffly for whiskey. He glowered at Charley, wh

round, joined his comrades. It was

ifficulty to decide which has divided the world. If it's only a physical craving, it means that we are materialists naturally, and that the soil from which the grape came is the soil that's in us; that it is the body feeding on itself all the time; tha

am drunk. Liquor makes

le! Now isn't it funny,

s natural. This tavern's the only place I have to think in, a

e singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs as when I've been drinking. I rem

ther side

eet field

ree of life

s rest

rest for

rest for

rest for

rest fo

hear you sing it-sure!

pots of colour in the cheeks, that white and red which had made him known as Beauty Steele. With a whimsical humour, behind which was the natural disposition of the

her side o

aw two river-drivers entering the door, one of whom had swor

aring in his eye brightened still more. He was ready for any change or chance to-nigh

ther side

eet field

ree of life

s rest

in spite of all prejudice? It was as if he were counsel in one of those cases when, the minds and sympathies of judge and jury at first arrayed against him, he had irresistibly cloven his way to their judgment-not stealing away their hearts, but governing, dominating their intelligences. Whenever he had done this he had been drinking hard, was in a mental world

rest for

rest for

rest for

s rest

ing and scornful, shuffled angrily; then Jake Houg

rest for

s rest

y, every one of them ro

rest for

s rest

ered during the singing, no

n now, M

t for an attack by this little battery of glass. He did not reply directly to Rouge Gosselin, but sta

recepts. Many of them had been profane and blasphemous in their time; may have sworn "sacre bapteme!" one of the worst oaths of their race; but it had been done in the wildness of anger

er and pressed them quickly. He made no response; he was scarcely aware of it. He was in a kind

hen they get blind by-and-by; if they look round them and get open-eyed, their feet stumble and they fall. It is a world of contradictions. If a man drinks much he loses his head

ther side

eet field

ree of life

s rest

nds scarce, and the pork and molasses and bread come hard, we get drunk, and we sing the comic chanson 'Brigadier, vows avez raison!' We've been singing a sad song to-night when we're feeling happy. We didn't think whether it was sad or not, we only knew it pleased our ears, and we wanted those sweet fields of Eden, and the blooming tre

er, and crowded close together, looking over each

he was-that one man-standing just as I am among you, and round him were the men who followed him, all ordinary men, with ordinary curiosity. And he said he had come down from heaven, and for years they were with him, and yet they never asked him what that heaven was like: what it looked like, what it felt like, what sort of life they lived there, what manner of folk were the angels, what was the appearance of God. Why didn't

e natures of these Catholics, who, whatever their lives, held fast to the immemorial form, the sacredness of Mother Church. They were ever ready to step into the galle

he stretched out his hand to them again with a

u know that if you take a slice out of anything, less remains behind

u can only see what it does. What good would it do us if we knew all about it? There it is, and it's going to revolutionise the world. It's no good asking- no one knows what it is and where it comes from, or what it looks like. It's better to go it blind, because you feel the power, though you can't see where it comes from. You can't t

ll away, to the

en he stopped singing and pushed over his glass for Suzon to fill it, the crowd were noiseless and silent for a moment, for the spell was still on them. They did not recover themselves until they saw him lift his glass to Suzon, his back on them,

ought they saw passion, love, desire, in her face-in the face of their Suzon, the pride of the river, the flower of the Cote Dorion. Not alone because Charley had blasphemed against religion did they hate him

looks on the faces of the men, and was at once afraid and elated. She loved the glow of excitement, she had a keen sense of

again. She mechanicall

han enough," she s

, love me long," he added, again raising his glass to he

e whispered hastily. "Do g

turned anxiously in Charley's direction as he p

disdainfully. "Like a good soul!" Had it come to this, that Suz

o Suzon in English. "Didn't I play my

English; "but now you are differen' and

his hand and touched the girl's arm lightly with a forefinger. "I

r his hand was steady, his body was well poised, his look was direct; there seemed some strange electric force in leash behind his face, a watchful yet nonchalant energy of spirit, joined to an indolent pose of body. As the girl looked at him someth

Theophile, who didn't want a ro

; "and I don't believe t

to have a plan of campaign, and they began to carry it out. First one, then another,

, in each case; "

nd crowding became worse. "Don't mention it," he said. "

or a moment and cleared a small space around him. There was no defiance in his aspect, no aggressiveness of manner; he was as quiet as though it were a drawing-room and he a master of monologues. He hurled

led off his coat and threw it on the floor. "I'll eat your h

oat again, and learn that it is only dogs that delight to bark and

a rush forward, but Roug

he said. "I have t

ouge Gosselin. "Be good

t the rim of his straw hat, carrying it off his head, and crashed into a lantern hanging against the wall, putting out the light. The room w

ng the pistol Suzon slipped into his hand. The sight of the pistol dr

of Jake Hough, the horse-doctor, the strongest man, and the most popular Englishman on the river.

heavy stroke the monocle shot from Charley's eye the length of the string.

but have I ever-bee

ey act as he did is a matter for speculation. It was throwing away his one chance;

rage in his eye. "Go to the devil, then, a

," said

rill woman's voice, a scramble and hurrying feet, a noise of a something splashing heavily in the water outside. When the lights were up again

o the country-side, and somewhere in the bla

ITOR'S B

ces, but never friend

his nuptial bed

llow-citizens

myself whe

emember to

makes m

legs at

believe all you can

vilisation

kn