The trial at Regina proved sensational. Crimes attended with violence were not unknown in the vicinity, and cattle were now and then stolen in the neighboring province of Alberta; but that such things as the prosecutor\'s tale revealed should happen aroused wide-spread astonishment and virtuous indignation. Nevertheless, they were proved, for Flett had procured a number of witnesses and, what was more, had secured their attendance.
In addition to this, other offenses were hinted at; the doings of an organized gang of desperadoes and their accomplices were detailed, and facts were brought to light which made the withdrawal of the Sachem license inevitable. The defense took strong exception to this mode of procedure, pointing out that the court was only concerned with a specified offense, and that it was not permissible to drag in extraneous and largely supposititious matter. During the sweltering days the trial lasted, there were brisk encounters between the lawyers, and several points the prosecution sought to prove were ruled irrelevant. As a climax, came George\'s story, which caused a sensation, though the close-packed assembly felt that he scarcely did justice to his theme.
In concluding, the Crown prosecutor pointed out how rapidly the outbreaks of turbulent lawlessness had spread. They were all, he contended, connected with and leading up to the last outrage, of which the men before him were accused. It was obvious that this unruliness must be sternly stamped out before it spread farther, and if the court agreed with him that the charge was fully proved, he must press for a drastic and deterrent penalty.
The odds were heavily against the defense from the beginning. The credibility of Flett\'s witnesses could not be assailed, and cross-examination only threw a more favorable light upon their character. Inside the court, and out of it as the newspapers circulated, Grant stood revealed as a fearless citizen, with a stern sense of his duty to the community; George, somewhat to his annoyance, as a more romantic personage of the same description, and Hardie, who had been brought in to prove certain points against which the defense protested, as one who had fought and suffered in a righteous cause.
In the end, the three prisoners were convicted, and when the court broke up the police applied for several fresh warrants, which were issued.
As George was walking toward his hotel, he met Flett, to whom he had not spoken since they separated in the bluff.
"I was waiting for you," said the constable. "I\'m sorry we\'ll have to call you up again as soon as the rustler\'s leg is better. He\'s in the guard-room, and the boys got one of the other fellows; but we can talk about it on the train. I\'m going back to my post."
George arranged to meet him, and they were sitting in a roomy smoking compartment as the big express sped across wide gray levels and past vast stretches of ripening grain, when the next allusion was made to the matter.
"I suppose you\'ll be sergeant shortly," George remarked.
"Corporal comes first," said Flett. "They stick to the regular rotation."
"That\'s true, but they seem to use some discretion in exceptional cases. I hardly think you\'ll remain a corporal."
Flett\'s eyes twinkled.
"I did get something that sounded like a hint. I\'ll confess that I felt like whooping after it."
"You have deserved all you\'ll get," George declared.
They spent the night at a junction, where Flett had some business, and it was the next evening when the local train ran into Sage Butte. The platform was crowded and as George and Flett alighted, there was a cheer and, somewhat to their astonishment, the reeve of the town advanced to meet them.
"I\'m here to welcome you in the name of the citizens of the Butte," he said. "We have to request the favor of your company at supper at the Queen\'s."
"It\'s an honor," George responded. "I\'m sensible of it; but, you see, I\'m in a hurry to get back to work and I wired for a team. My harvest should have been started a week ago."
"Don\'t you worry \'bout that," said the reeve. "It wasn\'t our wish that you should suffer through discharging your duty, and we made a few arrangements. Four binders have been working steady in your oats, and if you don\'t like the way we have fixed things, you can alter them to-morrow."
Then West touched George\'s arm.
"You\'ll have to come. They\'ve got two other victims—Hardie and
Grant—and the supper\'s ready."
The reeve looked at him in stern rebuke.
"That isn\'t the way to speak of this function, Percy. If you feel like a victim, you can drop right out."
George was touched by the man\'s intimation. He expressed his satisfaction, and the whole assembly escorted him to the hotel. There he and Grant and Hardie were seated at the top of a long table near the reeve, who made a short opening speech.
"Business first, and then the supper, boys," he said. "Corporal Flett can\'t come; his bosses wouldn\'t approve of it; but I\'ll see it put in the Sentinel that he was asked, and we won\'t mind if that has some effect on them. There\'s another thing—out of deference to Mr. Hardie and the change in opinion he has ably led—you\'ll only get tea and coffee at this entertainment. Those who haven\'t signed his book, must hold out until it\'s over."
An excellent meal had been finished when he got up again, with three illuminated strips of parchment in his hand.
"I\'ll be brief, but there\'s something to be said. Our guests have set us an example which won\'t be lost. They saw the danger of letting things drift; one of them warned us plainly, although to do so needed grit, and some of us rounded on him, and if the others didn\'t talk, it was because that wasn\'t their end of the job. They knew their duty to the country and they did it, though it cost them something. We owe it to them that the police have smashed the rustler gang, and that from now on no small homesteader can be bluffed or tempted into doing what\'s sure to bring him into trouble, and no man with a big farm need fear to let his cattle run. What\'s more, instead of a haunt of toughs and hobos, we\'re going to have a quiet and prosperous town. I\'m now proud that it\'s my duty to hand our guests the assurance of our grateful appreciation. Corporal Flett\'s will be sent on to him."
He handed them the parchments, and George felt inclined to blush as he glanced at the decorated words of eulogy; while a half-ironical twinkle crept into Grant\'s eyes. Then Hardie rose to reply, and faltered once or twice with a sob of emotion in his voice, for the testimonial had a deeper significance to him than it had to the others. His audience, however, encouraged him, and there was a roar of applause when he sat down. Soon after that the gathering broke up.
George went to the parlor, which served as writing-room, and found Flora there. She smiled as she noticed the end of the parchment sticking out of his pocket.
"I dare say you\'re relieved that the ceremony\'s over," she said.
"It was a little trying," George confessed. "I was badly afraid I\'d have to make a speech, but luckily we had Hardie, who was equal to the task."
"After all, you needn\'t be ashamed of the testimonial. I really think you deserved it, and I suppose I must congratulate you on the fortunate end of your dramatic adventures."
George stood looking at her. He was somewhat puzzled, for there was a hint of light mockery in her voice.
"I\'ll excuse you if you feel that it requires an effort," he said.
"Oh, you have had so much applause that mine can hardly count."
"You ought to know that it\'s my friends\' good opinion I really value."
Flora changed the subject.
"You will be driving out in the morning?"
"I\'m starting as soon as Edgar has the team ready. There\'s a good moon and I must get to work the first thing to-morrow."
The girl\'s face hardened.
"You seem desperately anxious about your crop."
"I think that\'s natural. There\'s a good deal to be done and I\'ve lost some time. I came in to write a note before I see what Edgar\'s doing."
"Then I mustn\'t disturb you, and it\'s time I went over to Mrs. Nelson\'s—she expects me to stay the night. I was merely waiting for a word with my father." She stopped George, who had meant to accompany her. "No, you needn\'t come—it\'s only a few blocks away. Get your note written."
Seeing that she did not desire his escort, George let her go; but he frowned as he sat down and took out some paper. Soon afterward Edgar came in, and they drove off in a few more minutes.
"Did you see Miss Grant?" Edgar asked when they were jolting down the rutted trail.
"I did," George said shortly.
"You seem disturbed about it."
"I was a little perplexed," George owned. "There was something that struck me as different in her manner. It may have been imagination, but I felt she wasn\'t exactly pleased with me. I can\'t understand how I have offended her."
"No," said Edgar. "It would have been remarkable if you had done so. I suppose you told her you couldn\'t rest until you got to work at the harvest?"
"I believe I said something of the kind. What has that to do with it?"
"It isn\'t very obvious. Perhaps she felt tired or moody; it has been a blazing hot day. There\'s every sign of its being the same to-morrow. I suppose you\'ll make a start after breakfast?"
"I\'ll make a start as soon as it\'s daylight," George told him.
He kept his word, and for the next few weeks toiled with determined energy among the tall white oats and the coppery ears of wheat. It was fiercely hot, but from sunrise until the light failed, the plodding teams and clinking binders moved round the lessening squares of grain, and ranks of splendid sheaves lengthened fast behind them. The nights were getting sharp, the dawns were cold and clear, ............