"Your appearance suggested it; but we'll call it disgusted, if you like," he retorted with amusement in his eyes.
It occurred to Alison that as he had evidently taken her resentment for granted it might after all be wiser to prove it justifiable.
"Then," she said, "a scene of the kind you figured in last night is naturally repugnant to any one not accustomed to it."
"No," Alison admitted, "I don't think it did."
"Then she's not accustomed to such scenes either. Rows of any kind really aren't very common in western Canada--but she seems to have more comprehension than you have."
This was turning the tables with a vengeance, and Alison was a trifle disconcerted, for instead of standing on his defense the man had unexpectedly proceeded to attack.
"Do you care to explain that?" she asked.
"I'll try," Thorne replied genially. "Perhaps because she's married, Mrs. Farquhar seems to understand that there are occasions when a man is driven into doing things he has an aversion for. In a way, it's to his credit when he recognizes that the alternative is out of the question. Can you get hold of that?"
"I'm not sure. You see, you suggest that there may be an alternative."
"It's often the case. The difficulty is that now and then the consequences of choosing it are a good deal worse than the other thing."
Alison could grasp the gist of this. There was something to be said for the resolution that could boldly grapple with a crisis as soon as it arose, instead of seeking the readiest means of escape from it.
"Now," added Thorne, "I was quite sure when the storekeeper appeared on the scene that he had hired the biggest tough in the settlement to make trouble for me. Of course I could have backed down, or at least I could have tried it, but the result would naturally have been to make the opposition more determined on the next occasion. It seemed wiser to face the situation then and there."
Again Alison felt that he was right, and she shifted her point of attack.
"You wish to assure me that it was with very great reluctance you jumped down from your wagon last night?"
"No," he acknowledged; "if one must be honest, I can't go quite so far as that."
The girl was a little astonished at herself. In spite of his last confession her disgust--though she felt that was not the right word--with his conduct had greatly lessened, and she was conscious of a certain curiosity about his sensations during the incident.