The Silver Horde Part 58

"How interesting! Are there many Greeks here?"

"No. It is a relic of the Russian days. The natives worship there."

"I intended to go closer; but the walking is not very good, is it?" She glanced down at her dainty French shoes, then at Cherry's hunting-boots.

"Do you live here?"

"Yes. In the log house yonder."

"Indeed! I tried to find some one there, but--you were out, of course. You have it arranged very cozily, I see." Mildred's manner was faintly patronizing. She was vexed at the beauty and evident refinement of this woman whom she had thought to find so different.

"If you will go back I will show it to you from the inside, Miss Wayland."

Cherry enjoyed her start at the name and the look of cold hostility that followed.

"You have the advantage of me," said Mildred. "I did not think we had met.

You are--?" She raised her brows, inquiringly.

"Cherry Malotte, of course."

"I remember. Mr. Marsh spoke of you."

"I am sorry."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I say I am sorry Mr. Marsh ever spoke of me."

Mildred smiled frigidly. "Evidently you do not like him?"

"n.o.body in Alaska likes him. Do you?"

"You see, I am not an Alaskan."

It occurred to Cherry that this girl was ignorant of the unexpected change in Boyd's affairs. She decided to sound her--to find out for herself the answer to those questions which Boyd had evaded. He had not spoken to Mildred of Marsh. Perhaps if she knew the truth, she would love him better, and even now her a.s.sistance would not be valueless.

"Do you know that Mr. Marsh is to blame for all of Boyd's misfortune?" she said.

"Boyd's?"

"Yes, Boyd's, of course. Oh, let us not pretend--I call him by his first name. I think you ought to know the truth about this business, even if Boyd is too chivalrous to tell you."

"Why do you think he has not told me?"

"I have just come from him."

"If Mr. Emerson blames any one but himself for his failure, I am sure he would have told me."

"Then you don't know him."

"I never knew him to ask another to defend him."

"He never asked me to defend him. I merely thought that if you knew the truth, you might help him."

"I? How?"

"It is for you to find a way. He has met with opposition and treachery at every step; I think it is time some one came to his aid."

"He has had your a.s.sistance at all times, has he not?"

"I have tried to help wherever I could, but--I haven't your power."

Mildred shrugged her shoulders. "You even went to Seattle to help him, did you not?"

"I went there on my own business."

"Why do you take such an interest in Mr. Emerson's affairs, may I ask?"

"It was I who induced him to take up this venture," said Cherry, proudly.

"I found him discouraged, ready to give up; I helped to put new heart into him. I have something at stake in the enterprise, too--but that's nothing.

I hate to see a good man driven to the wall by a scoundrel like Marsh."

"Wait! There is something to be said on both sides. Mr. Marsh was magnanimous enough to overlook that attempt upon his life."

"What attempt?"

"You must have heard. He was wounded in the shoulder."

"Didn't Boyd tell you the truth about that?"

"He told me everything," said Mildred, coldly. This woman's att.i.tude was unbearable. It would seem that she even dared to criticise her, Mildred Wayland, for her treatment of Boyd. She pretended to a truer friendship, a more intimate knowledge of him. But no--it wasn't pretense. It was too natural, too unconscious, for that; and therein lay the sting.

"I shall ask him about it again this evening," she continued. "If there has really been persecution, as you suggest, I shall tell my father."

"You won't see Boyd this evening," said Cherry.

"Oh yes, I shall."

"He is very busy and--I don't think he can see you."

"You don't understand. I told him to come out to the yacht!" Mildred's temper rose at the light she saw in the other woman's face.

"But if he should disappoint you," Cherry insisted, "remember that the fish are running, and you have no time to lose if you are going to help."

Mildred tossed her head. "To be frank with you, I never liked this enterprise of Boyd's. Now that I have seen the place and the people--well, I can't say that I like it better."

"The country is a bit different, but the people are much the same in Kalvik and in Chicago. You will find unscrupulous men and unselfish women everywhere."

Mildred gave her a cool glance that took her in from head to foot.

"And vice versa, I dare say. You speak from a wider experience than I."