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Show -:-?-X.?--iJ;V'r-::.- : : .t,, .,;y) CHAPTER XVI-Continued. 15 . . 1 1 3- ran behind till blazing divan, tip the rill), iiml drove a smashing smash-ing blow Hgain.st (lie buck wit 1 1. Ii cr;ti kod ; again and ag.ilu she dashed (he Kindt against It, until a secUnn of tlie pine phtulca gave 'vay under tier flKStllllt. Together Ihey carried Wlltnti through lulu ft room behind. Outside It was qtiile light; a gust of wind came through an open window mid farmed fhe (lames to fury. With a mar tlie (ire leaped up tlie outer walls, and tlie whole frr.nt. of tlie catnii was ablaze. Molly Ki'rauililed to Ilie sill, clung there, and dropped. The factor, loaning loan-ing out. lowered Wilton's hotly. And lie himself dropped to tlie ground beside be-side lint girl. A.s lie dropped Kite perceived, wlth-oul wlth-oul realizing it, that lie had used hoth ileitis and less. The paralysis Intd left him. ' They ran down toward the lake, carry hi !? Wilton between them, and innking Instinctively for the shelter of (iie undergrowth. , As they pissed the road, P.owyer ciimo out of the slahle, pulling fiercely fierce-ly at Ihe horses, which were fastened to the rig. lie had set his foot upon (he step when Lee Chamhers and llnckelt broke upon Mm from among the trees. 'They made a leap for the vehicle. "Let us In, d n you!" Chambers yelled. Bowyer dealt him a blow with the vvhlpstock that sent him staggering. With a vile oath Haekett sprang for the slop, Bowyer lashed him across fthe face, causing him to miss his footing, foot-ing, and cursing and shouting, the two mien rushed after him and disappeared lowu Hie road. The sound of the galloping gal-loping horses died away. Molly liiteeiled at Wilton's side, bathing his face with water from the lake. The f ticler held his wrist. "Ills pulse beats sound," he said. ' 1 1 f M I rnnip buck to himself soon. Lot's lava', lass; let's awa'." The girl hardly heard him. FIteously fihe scanned Wilton's face for some fcigns of returning consciousness. Hut Wlllon did not stir, though he was breathing easily. Presently, with a hideous clamor, (he two outlaws returned. Molly held her breath as they came back along (he road, only a few yards above where she crouched with the factor. Inn they passed on, and turned up toward the camp, which blazed furiously, furi-ously, a naming parallelogram against the glow of the eastern sky, into which (lie rini, of the sun just projected from iie horizon. liven a.s she watched the girl saw (lie blazing walls tumble inward. The men leaped back, and then, shouting chunkenly, made their way toward the Rt ahles. "Come awa', lass!" muttered McDonald, Mc-Donald, pulling at Molly's arm. lie tool; Wilton by the legs, and together to-gether they crept with him cautiously further into the hushes beside the lake. Suddenly Wilton opened his eyes. And his first words fell like an icy chill on the girl's heart. "Kitty, 1 tried to save your line !" lie muttered. lie was thinking of the fire. He stared into Molly's eyes without recognition, rec-ognition, and his own closed again. Once more tlie factor pulled at the glii'f sleeve. ' : "Come awa', lass!" he whispered eagerly. "He'll get well, Come! It's our chance a grand chance for us!" ;"'hat do you mean?" she whispered whis-pered hack. "Dinna ye see? They think we're dead. Tom Bowyeril think we're dead La the fire. He'll never trouble us again. Come,, lass! He winna come to no harm !" As he spoke, Molly perceived two horsemen riding itlong the road. They were policemen; they moved at a slow-walk, slow-walk, and they carried their rilles on their anus. When they were within two hundred hun-dred yards of the .camp they disannulled, dis-annulled, tied their horses to a tree, and began to run forward swiftly nham the road. The upioar in the stable h.'d not ceased, i- l.ee Chambers came staggering out, a' .ioi He in his hand. And suddenly, a hundred yards away, he saw Quain and the constable. . lie bolted hack with a scream of .terror Then followed Hackett's hel-lov hel-lov in oar. and the two men appeared ap-peared tit the door with rides in their hands The p diceinen ran toward them. Quain led the way., "Drop those! tini!s i y ! We've got you!" he snouted. Molly saw Iluckett drop to one knee ntitl draw a careful heart upon the inspector. in-spector. : that moment the constable fired. Tin outlaw toppled head over heels ' llk' rabbit, and uever stirred again. The bullet hud pierced his heart. With a cry of despair Chamhers fired wildly anil turned to run. ( info mote Qtialn shouted, anil the eon-stable eon-stable bred again. Chambers dropped la his tracks mill lay still. I lorror-sl ricken at the sight. Molly crouched by Wilton's side. His eyes were open again, lie did not yet recognize recog-nize her. hut It tins evident that consciousness con-sciousness was coming back to him. As the policemen began to cany the bodies of tlie outlaws Into Ihe stable the factor plucked violently at Molly's arm. "What do you want to do, father?" she whispered. "I'll tell ye. lass. Ye ken the trail that strikes off from tlie road below the lake and runs nigh the portage? We'll 'travel east through the bush twa about. We'll go to the store and pack our few things and go. Aye. we'll go. We'll trincl east through the bush twn hundred miles or maybe more, till we strike the line somewhere. And then we're frpe. Pinna say no, lass!" She was touched by the babbling stammered words. They went straight lo her heart. "He's naething to ye, lass?" asked the factor, pointing at Wilton. Molly looked at him. He had fallen into a deep sleep. She could do nothing noth-ing for him by remaining. "A'o, father, he's nothing to me," she answered. "Weil put him a wee hit higher on the slope, where they'll see him," tlie factor whispered. They raised Wilton and laid him on the new-fallen snow, not far from the read. Then, cautiously and secretively, secretive-ly, they turned and plunged into the depths of the underbrush. It was two hours later when Wilton Wil-ton opened his eyes, to And himself lying In the stable. The inspector was standing at the door; the constable con-stable paced at his side. Wilton looked tit Quain with astonishment. aston-ishment. He could remember nothing since his plunge into the burning building. build-ing. "Jack!" he called feebly. "What's happened to me? Hew did you get here, old man?" Quain, who appeared to be struggling strug-gling with some deep emotion, did not answer him. r "You know how I got here?" continued con-tinued Wilton. "They trapped Miss McDonald and her father where is she. Jack?" "They're not here, Will." "They must be here. I tell you I saw her. That beast Bowyer had her At That Moment the Constable Fired. by tlie throat. It made me see red ! They got me down, and the place was afire, and " "Don't tell me that, Will," said the inspector in a choked voice. "Don't tell me any more." "Why not, Jack? What's the matter with you?" "Because you're under arrest for the willful murder of Joe Bostock. And I've I've cautioned you !" CHAPTER XVII The Trap. Bob rayne, the lawyer, could not make up his mind whether his client, Will Carruthers, was innocent or guilty, and that was a position in which he did not often find himself. Either Carruthers was one of the coolest and most deliberate murderers that had ever lived, or he was the victim rt an extraordinary well-woven conspiracy. Whether Wilton was innocent oi guilty. Bob Payne meant to fight to iht"t:isi. He had taken a liking to I Carruthers, and he was resolved to f rt-e him. That, of eourse, presumed his own belief in his client's Innocence. Inno-cence. He found his client seated In Ids cell, scribbling upon pieces uf paper covered with diagrams, just as he hud found him on the oecasicni of his previous pre-vious visit. Wilton rose and they shook hands. i he lawyer sat down. "Let's go ever the facts together," he said. "There's going to be a tight. You realize that? Not that you won't win out. Dl coi.rse you will. But w hen popular p sioas ire stirred --when a new spnpe1' campaign cam-paign has practically prejudged the c;i-e. It's apt to be reilecied in the minds of the jury. I've thought of asking for a ch..nge of venue. But I'm frank. 'arrut hers the feolin,r is widespread, and Clayton is the town where your enemies have the letist itillitetice. I think we'll light tl'em here." "I'll tight it out here," answered Wilton. ' Your luck has been infernal. If it could be proved that Bovver hired those men to kidnap Miss McDonald and her father though it wouldn't help directly It would create a prejudice in the minds of the Jury, he coiili bring that in as evidence. It would discredit Bowyer. It would forcn him into tlie witness-box and give us an opportunity. If those men if Miss McDonald could go into the witness-box we could present something some-thing ot a case. But they're tlead tit least those outlaws are dead antl their secret tiled with them." "We can get Tonguay there." "You don't consider that he may be a star witness for the prosecution, Carruthers? lie's got his neck to save. And, if your Implication of liiayre is the correct one. you remember that l'hayre is a director or the Clayton hospital, antl donated a large sum of money to it. Three weeks in a private room there offer opportunities." "You do believe that Phayre is implicated?" im-plicated?" cried Wilton. "I do, Carruthers. I'll be frank with you. I didn't at first. But I'm convinced con-vinced that either Phayre or Bowyer was privy to Joe Bostock's murder. I believe it was an accident, and that they're playing on it to get you convicted. con-victed. "That's what we can prove against them, and it amounts to nothing. Now what can they prove against us? You were Joe Bostock's friend, l'ou knew all his affairs. You were his executor. For some reason or other Joe Bostock raised a loan of a large sum on five hundred Missatibl shares probably to cover some other investment, and knowing that he could meet it when the time came. There's nothing abnormal ab-normal or unusual about that. "The money disappeared. Checks aggregating ag-gregating four hundred thousand dollars dol-lars signed by Joe Bostock and made out in your favor are found in your safe. It is claimed that you pre- semeu mem , uiai me.v passeo liiiougll the bank in the normal way, and that they went back to you at the time you signed the monthly statement as his executor. "You are presumed to have cashed those checks. Two days later you went Into the bush with Mr. 1 Bostock. lie died, at your side. Do you see the implication, as a juryman would see it?" "And you believe I forged those checks?" "I do not," stiid Payne emphatically. "But I'll be frank I couldn't see" "Then it was Phayre." "Phayre or Clark. Clark has a first-rate first-rate record. He was tw elve years with the Itegina branch of the Western National. Na-tional. We haven't been able to trace anything to his discredit. Still, there's not the least doubt Phayre and Bowyer Bow-yer fixed up this scheme to get control con-trol of tlie Missatibi and ruin you, at the best. Joe Bostock's death fitted in only too well with their purposes. But how those checks got into your safe, Carruthers " "Chambers placed them there, of course. I went over the papers immediately im-mediately I discovered that the safe was open, hut the checks were the last thing I should havn thought of looking look-ing at. I thought they were after the blue-prints of the townships." "Then Chambers must also have abstracted ab-stracted the checks showing how Joe Bostock expended that five hundred thousand, and left those In their place. It's a diabolical contrivance, and I'm afraid we can't hope to make much impression with such a story on a jury, Carruthers. Are you positive you closed the safe?" "1 am absolutely sure, because I always al-ways tried it after closing, and made sure that the combination was not set." "It couldn't lie opened without the combination V" "Impossible. Of course, I'm not saying say-ing what mightn't be done by. a, master craftsman " "But Chambers wasn't a burglar. He was an engineer, and always had been. He was a skilled one, too. He could tlo better by bis profession than by burglary. That's tlie heaviest item in the prosecution's bill, Carruthers. It establishes a strong motive. That's what I mean when I say that we're on the defensive. Tlie thing we have to do is to clear up this forgery situation." situa-tion." He hesitated. "Carrulhers, I'll be frank wjth you," he said. "There's another an-other motive almost as strong. It's Mrs. Bostock. She went to live at Big Muskeg in an iso'.aled cottage near your own right after her husband's death. A damning thing in the eyes of men of the world, as all jurymen pride themselves on being." "She was like a sister to me for Joe's sake," said Wilton. "Which is the last the very last suggestion that I would put before a jury," answered rayne. Wilton had another visitor that day. It was Jim Betts, who had somehow obtained a iennit to see nun, and appeared ap-peared outside the bars, accompanied by the warden. "Will," he said huskily, "we're going go-ing to get you out of here. I told you them two snakes would tie found at the bottom of the brushwood. I believe in ye, boy! That ain't much, ma. be, but I w ant ye to know it." Wilton was deeply moved. '"Thank you, Jim." he said warmly. "And listen, boy ! Ye remember how ye came to me about meeting that note when it falls due? I told ye I couldn't help ye. Well, boy, I was lying, I was trying ye. Will, and ye've made good; and I want to say" the old man's voice almost failed him "I want to say the money's yours to meet that note when it falls due, and I I want I ' Wive? MW't ISM "Will, We're Going to Get You Out ot Here." ye to know this when ye're In trouble, and not when ye're out of It and all the world's slapping ye on the back and cheering ye, and and d n it, I'm going to get ye out of here a free man, or my name ain't Betts!" CHAPTER XVIII Confession. When Wilton was arrested Kitty had been stunned by the news. She had made frantic attempts to see aim, but without success. Kitty knew on what the charge was built, and the consciousness that Wilton's Wil-ton's freedom could only be purchased by her confession caused her an agony of shame and fear. Yet she would have purchased Wilton's freedom free-dom even at the cost of that hvmilia- I 1 1... n.t ..i.- . lion, iitiu ne iiol Mjuwu uiui aiie must inevitably lose him. Instinctively she realized that treachery was the one sin tlmt he would never condone. At last, when she could bear rt no longer, she resolved to go to see Bowyer. Bow-yer. She left secretly, at an early hour one morning, and readied Cold Junction Junc-tion a little before noon. At the same hour Bowyer was seated In the office of his house there. Facing him across the desk was Clark, the manager of tlie Bank of New North Manitoba at Clayton. "I'm not going to take you up on your preposterous story," Bowyer stormed. "I won't answer It. Nor will I deny it. You won't get 'yes' or 'no' out of me. Let's say you've rendered special and confidential services to the hank this past year and yo'u want a bonus. Howil that do?" "Call it what you like," said Clark. "But get me straight, Mr. Bowyer. I didn't tackle that job to be fobbed oft with a paltry two hundred dollars. I know what It was worth to you and I want a proper price for it. I'm not bargaining. I'm going to bleed you just what you're willing to stand. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars in bonds, which I'll specify, and fifty thousand in cash." Bowyer , went white. Clark had gauged his limit exactly. The two men eyed eucli other in silence for a few seconds. vThen Bowyer capitulated. "Your talents are wasted here," he said. "I'll take you up on that, and I'll be able to employ you to bettej advantage after the first of the year, You're not afraid of a check?" "Not in the least," said Clark "Thank you 1" He took the check and saunterei? out of the house. When he was gona Bowyer gave way to one of his mad rages. He called up Phayre and damned him. He stamped up and down the office; antl in the middle of It his man announced Kitty. When she came in he was smiling and admirably under control. "Well, Mrs. Bostock, 1 guess this isn't social," he said. "Last time we parted you were quite vexed with me." Kitty put her hands to her eyes and broke down. "I can't hear it." she sobbed. "It's too awful 1 I've been ill for days, and I had to come to you It's Wilton and Molly. If you had any hand in that poor child's death, may God forgive you. Tom Bowyer'" (TO EE CONTINUED.) |