"
"No, he would not," she insisted, for the thought that he had done it
for her sake was very sweet to her and would persist. "Cooped up in
the caboose, we did not know the train was running away until it was
too late for us to jump, while Bryce Cardigan, riding out on the
logs, must have known it almost immediately. He would have had time
to jump before the runaway gathered too much headway--and he would
have jumped, Uncle Seth, for his father's sake."
"Well, he certainly didn't stay for mine, Shirley."
She dried her moist eyes and blushed furiously. "Uncle Seth," she
pleaded, taking him lovingly by the arm, "let's be friends with Bryce
Cardigan; let's get together and agree on an equitable contract for
freighting his logs over our road."
"You are now," he replied severely, "mixing sentiment and business;
if you persist, the result will be chaos. Cardigan has in a large
measure squared himself for his ruffianly conduct earlier in the day,
and I'll forgive him and treat him with courtesy hereafter; but I
want you to understand, Shirley, that such treatment by me does not
constitute a license for that fellow to crawl up in my lap and be
petted. He is practically a pauper now, which makes him a poor
business risk, and you'll please me greatly by leaving him severely
alone--by making him keep his distance.
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