"I don't; I've sometimes thought he wanted to tell me."

"Then you never asked?"

"I did not; I think I didn't want to know."

She gave him a steady searching glance and he felt that if he had been
insincere she would have found out.

"But you knew there was something wrong. If he had injured somebody in
England, he might have injured you. What made you so trustful?"

"Your brother himself. Then he was, so to speak, my benefactor. If he
hadn't taken me up, I might have been chopping trees in the snow,
instead of enjoying a holiday in England and, to emphasize the
contrast, staying at a house like this."

"It doesn't follow; you might have found another opportunity. The
point is that you did trust Lawrence."

Foster disliked sentiment and knew that if he struck a false note it
would jar.

"Well," he said, "I don't claim that I'm a judge of character, but one
can't make progress in Canada and be a fool. We had gone hungry in the
bush together, and hauled the hand-sledge across the snow, when it was
very doubtful if we'd make the settlements. Perhaps there isn't a
better way of testing a partner than that. Then a man starts fair in
the new countries, and one feels that this is right. He may have given
way once to some strong temptation and go the straighter for it