The Impostor

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Bindloss Harold. The Impostor

CHAPTER I – RANCHER WITHAM

CHAPTER II – LANCE COURTHORNE

CHAPTER III – TROOPER SHANNON’S QUARREL

CHAPTER IV – IN THE BLUFF

CHAPTER V – MISS BARRINGTON COMES HOME

CHAPTER VI – ANTICIPATIONS

CHAPTER VII – WITHAM’S DECISION

CHAPTER VIII – WITHAM COMES TO SILVERDALE

CHAPTER IX – AN ARMISTICE

CHAPTER X – MAUD HARRINGTON’S PROMISE

CHAPTER XI – SPEED THE PLOUGH

CHAPTER XII – MASTERY RECOGNIZED

CHAPTER XIII – A FAIR ADVOCATE

CHAPTER XIV – THE UNEXPECTED

CHAPTER XV – FACING THE FLAME

CHAPTER XVI – MAUD BARRINGTON IS MERCILESS

CHAPTER XVII – WITH THE STREAM

CHAPTER XVIII – UNDER TEST

CHAPTER XIX – COURTHORNE BLUNDERS

CHAPTER XX – THE FACE AT THE WINDOW

CHAPTER XXI – COLONEL BARRINGTON IS CONVINCED

CHAPTER XXII – SERGEANT STIMSON CONFIRMS HIS SUSPICIONS

CHAPTER XXIII – THE REVELATION

CHAPTER XXIV – COURTHORNE MAKES REPARATION

CHAPTER XXV – WITHAM RIDES AWAY

CHAPTER XXVI – REINSTATION

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It was late when Witham reached his log-built house, but he set out once more with his remaining horse before the lingering daylight crept out of the east, to haul the wagon home. He also spent most of the day in repairing it, because occupation of any kind that would keep him from unpleasant reflections appeared advisable, and to allow anything to fall out of use was distasteful to him, although as the wagon had been built for two horses he had little hope of driving it again. It was a bitter, grey day, with a low, smoky sky, and seemed very long to Witham; but evening came at last, and he was left with nothing between him and his thoughts.

He lay in a dilapidated chair beside the stove, and the little bare room through which its pipe ran was permeated with the smell of fresh shavings, hot iron, and the fumes of indifferent tobacco. A carpenter’s bench ran along one end of it, and was now occupied by a new wagon pole the man had fashioned out of a slender birch. A Marlin rifle, an axe, and a big saw hung beneath the head of an antelope on the wall above the bench, and all of them showed signs of use and glistened with oil. Opposite to them a few shelves were filled with simple crockery and cooking utensils, and these also shone spotlessly. There was a pair of knee boots in one corner with a patch partly sewn on to one of them, and the harness in another showed traces of careful repair. A bookcase hung above them, and its somewhat tattered contents indicated that the man who had chosen and evidently handled them frequently possessed tastes any one who did not know that country would scarcely have expected to find in a prairie farmer. A table and one or two rude chairs made by their owner’s hands completed the furniture; but while all hinted at poverty, it also suggested neatness, industry, and care, for the room bore the impress of its occupier’s individuality, as rooms not infrequently do.

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“Well,” said Witham quietly, “when you tell me what you want I should have a better opinion.”

Courthorne laughed a little, though there was something unpleasant in his eyes. “When I first came out to this country I should have resented that,” he said. “Now, it seems to me that I’m putting too much in your hands if I make the whole thing clear before you commit yourself in any way.”

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