Carson of Red River

The evening was calm, and the window at Blake’s flat by the river mouth was open. Kit Carson, standing with his back against the curtains, felt the rather shabby room was homeli...

At the top of the steps to the drawing-office Kit stopped and leaned against the rails. The building slips were occupied, and when work was pushed ahead at night he liked to loo...

Bleak moors, seamed by dark gullies, enclose Netherdale, and a river, leaping from the peat, breaks on whinstone ledges and plunges into alder-shaded pools. Where the valley wid...

Although he liked to joke and sometimes music carried him away, he had sober ambitions. Kit was modest, but his modesty was not exaggerated and he thought his efforts to some ex...

At ten o’clock in the morning, Kit went quietly into the manager’s office. Perhaps it was strange, for until he talked to Mrs. Blake he had not faced a crisis, but he was calm....

Although much rain falls at Netherdale, three or four days after Kit’s return were fine, and he seized all the opportunity for enjoyment the good weather gave. When the west win...

The red sunset shone behind the trees and the light was going. A lamp burned in Mrs. Haigh’s drawing-room, and Kit, at the gate, smelt flowers and freshly mown grass. He had bor...

Newfoundland was not far off, and a keen northwester sang in the _Falernian’s_ shrouds. Her lights swung with a measured heave and green halos shone and melted in the foam that...

Dust rolled about the jolting cars and sifted through every opening. Cinders rattled on the roofs and the long train noisily followed the river. Although the afternoon was hot,...

Thunder rolled across the woods, but the lake sparkled in the sun. A light wind ruffled the shining surface and dark-blue smears broke the silver reflections. For three or four...

Winnipeg station was crowded by dejected emigrants. The broken line had disorganized the traffic and nobody knew when the west-bound trains would start, but the fashionable youn...

In the morning Kit’s train stopped at a prairie station and he went along the line to the baggage car. The door rolled back, and when he jumped on the step a sack plunged out an...

Kit did not know where he would get breakfast, and he indulged his appetite. The food was good and all that bothered him was he could not copy the workmen’s speed. Bacon, fried...

Kit studied the fellow. Nothing indicated that he was humorous. His glance was hard and he pushed forward his heavy jaw. Kit, however, did not think him antagonistic. For the mo...

For two or three weeks Kit was strenuously, and on the whole happily, occupied at the forge. When the sun was on the roof the iron shack got very hot, and sometimes the labor wa...

Kit pushed some calculations across the office table, and tilting his chair against the wall, put his feet on the stove. His gum boots were battered, but his clothes were good....

A light wind moved the poplar branches and sparkling ripples rolled across Lost Lake. Along the margin the cracked mud was white with salt; the leaves in the bluff were going ye...

Chains rattled, an iron pulley clanked, and Kit went down the ladder. The heavy steel frame tilted, but its end had not yet reached the proper spot, and the men stopped for brea...

Wheeler put down the Montreal newspaper and knitted his brows. Snow beat the office windows and the lamp burned unsteadily. A savage wind screamed in the trees and the river bra...

Snow blew about the bridge and the savage wind screamed in the lattice. The planks laid across the ties were slippery; the flames from the throbbing blast-lamps slanted, and som...

Dinner was over at Netherhall, and Mrs. Carson’s party had gone to the drawing-room. Mrs. Carson was conservative and she refused to banish the early-Victorian walnut furniture....

Ledward went to the London office and for a time was at the bookkeeper’s desk. At the beginning the bookkeeper, who did not need much help, speculated about his employer’s objec...

Evelyn went to the musical comedy and the excursion carried a thrill. She was young, and to steal off with Ledward was something of an adventure. Ledward knew Evelyn better than...

Dusk had begum to fall, and Evelyn, returning from Netherdale village, stopped at the garden gate. Dark came early, Mrs. Haigh was not at home, and the evening would be long. In...

Evelyn folded her ball dress and tried to be resigned. The dress was a triumph for clever economy, but it was not all she wanted, and she thought luckier girls would know the co...

The electric light at the forge test-house sparkled on polished metal and touched the group by a big machine. Two were dark-skinned foreign navy officers; another was consul for...

A servant pushed Jasper’s long chair across the terrace at Netherhall, and stopping at a sunny spot, went off. Across the lawn bare branches tossed, but the buds were breaking,...

Melting snow dripped from the bridge-works roof and the snow in the street was gray and honeycombed. The trees along the sidewalk had shaken off their load, and a sunbeam touche...

After a time Kit heard a locomotive whistle and he went to the door. The wind was very cold and the sky was dark. Thick smoke blew about the wood; the gravel train was stopping...

Kit, in Austin’s office at the bridge, heard escaping steam and a locomotive pump’s monotonous throb. When the train stopped, somebody pushed him from the cab, and although he h...

Ten days after Kit left the tank he got down at a quiet station in the North of England. The train rolled on across a bridge, and by contrast with the trains in Canada, he thoug...

Dinner was over at Netherhall, and Kit thought the old servant who took his bag and coat gave him a queer look. The man said Mrs. Carson had not yet gone to the drawing-room and...

In the morning Kit crossed the moor to Whinnyates. The sun shone, the wind was fresh, and swift cloud-shadows checkered the dry bent-grass. A larch wood on the hillside was brig...