"
"There's no doubt of it!" declared Vane.
"You offered to help her in some way?"
"I did; I don't know how you guessed it. I said I'd find her a situation.
She wouldn't hear of it."
"She was wise. Vancouver isn't a very big place yet, and the girl has
more sense than you have. What did you say?"
"I'm afraid I lost my temper because there was nothing I could do."
Carroll grinned.
"There are limitations--even to the power of the dollar. You'll probably
run up against more of them later on."
"I suppose so," yawned Vane. "Well, I'm going to sleep."
He rolled himself up in his blanket and lay down among the soft spruce
twigs, but Carroll sat still in the darkness and smoked out his pipe.
Then he glanced at his comrade, who lay still, breathing evenly.
"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.
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