bargain? Your tongue's sharp, but your heart's in the right place--is it
a bargain?"

He held out his hand with applause from the crowd, but Grandois was not
to be softened. His anger, however, had behind it some sense of caution,
and what Carnac said about the smallpox incident struck him hard. It was
the first time he had ever been hit between the eyes where John Grier was
concerned. His prestige with the men was now under a shadow, yet he
dared not deny the truth of the statement. It could be proved. His
braggart hatred of John Grier had come home to roost. Carnac saw that,
and he was glad he had challenged the man. He believed that in politics,
as in all other departments of life, candour and bold play were best in
the long run. Yet he would like to see the man in a different humour,
and with joy he heard Junia say to Grandois.

"How is the baby boy, and how is madame, Monsieur Grandois?"

It came at the right moment, for only two days before had Madame Grandois
given her husband the boy for which he had longed. Junia had come to
know of it through a neighbour and had sent jellies to the sick woman.
As she came forward now, Grandois, taken aback, said:

"Alors, they're all right, ma'm'selle, thank you. It was you sent the
jellies, eh?"

She nodded with a smile. "Yes, I sent them, Grandois. May I come and
see madame and the boy to-morrow?"

The incident had taken a favourable turn.