"No doubt you'd be considered fortunate," he said, apostrophizing him
half aloud. "You've had power and responsibility thrust upon you. What
will you make of it?"

Then he, too, lay down, and only the soft splash of the tiny ripples
broke the silence while the fire sank lower.

They sailed the next morning, and when they arrived in Victoria the boat
which crossed the straits had gone, but the breeze was fair from the
westward, and, after despatching a telegram, Vane sailed again. The sloop
made a quick passage, and most of the time her passengers lounged in the
sunshine on her gently slanted deck. It was evening when they ran through
the Narrows into Vancouver's land-locked harbor and saw the roofs of the
city rise tier on tier from the water-front. Somber forest crept down to
the skirts of it, and across the glistening water black hills ran up into
the evening sky, with the blink of towering snow to the north of them.

Half an hour later Vane landed his passengers, and it was not until he
had left them that they discovered he had thrust a roll of paper currency
into the little girl's hand. Then he and Carroll set off for the C.P.R.
hotel, although they were not accustomed to a hostelry of that sort.




CHAPTER IV

A CHANGE OF ENVIRONMENT