She was determined and liked her own way.

He had promised to marry another girl, of a very different stamp, but his conscience was clear on that point.
It was better for Helen's sake that he should give her up, because he was on the edge of ruin and she was much too good for him.

Irresolution, however, was perhaps his greatest failing, and now he must decide, he wavered and thought about what he had lost.
There were days when he would not admit that all was lost, and harnessing his team in the early morning, drove the gang-plow through the soil until the red sunset faded off the plain.

In his heart, he knew the fight was hopeless; Festing, for example, in his place, might perhaps make good, but he had not the stamina for the long struggle.
All the same, he worked with savage energy until his mood changed and he went off to hunt sandhill cranes.

He would sooner have gone to the poolroom, but there was a risk of his meeting Sadie at the settlement.
In the meantime the days got warmer and a flush of vivid green spread across the grass.