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Show i VICTOR ROUSSEAU I iwari m. I O VP ANY "I'LL CO WITH YOU." j HVNol'.'U. - I '..I:I"K ov.-r JMk j a wt. unruly IminiMv.la j . amp in M t the M'.-K.i- , ) , t i- m .,..!.!, .In; !!"-;'":., b'it.ii.ir I .,; II:.: nil.-. 'IC'i Will. II I'll rrn th ins, j i ; l. f 1 1 1' iri.,innT.t, :n e cmc-i luriiii,' I II - ,ri:.i Mil t i- A r.ll.- y'n.' ! ri :--1 ;l : 1 1 - J ly ki.i.-i i;..k-i an-l '''' 'i m or- j ri.iliri!' mm. f:rrnl.." tn-s to l . ii .-I y Ihd I.O'ly In II l")Hl of tiie I I ii. I' .,:.'s ;u v i irii.ilty, wl:.-l - M-I M-I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 . 1 im lh! lit' lor Mi l ). in.'. M'3 I I i..'i;; l r, p.!.,l!y, .. ','; rr'J ' h r .- r x ii'ik In If:? nvi':e-: anil iIia'H M.n Inun lii-i i-. '.V : i j ; i , wuh his bur-,1,.ii. bur-,1,.ii. Inn t nun l:i t.iy, hi:r f.-ithtir in h.r Nuiiiii,' I'lirriitlu-rM. V. ,.:il'.... .1 l.y li's wo'iml an. I pxi.t-t pxi.t-t mm. 'ii i r.n h.-rs l.s ilininrhe.l hy ' li ,i n ;.j ..; i r:i ni-ft of 'Jinn IJo'.vy-;r, 1:. h;.,. I,'h hi:iili .-:.m r.v.'il lin.i J.er-P..H..I J.er-P..H..I i-ii.-iny. r.uiv.'cr liisnltH .-Inl- j Iv. mi. I ( ';. rrnthnr.s .strides hirn. Cun-nth ru d I.ipu hiH lu'-j for M.illy, .'.lit- in i.iiiik. h to he lila w'.fz. (' ri nth. ru Iu.h to r.-ii. h l!ie town uf ( lny ton lo intend, a nK'L-t!ns at wlroh H'.:irork 'H rn.-nll.-s f:tn lu wi,-st riintrol of tl . Mi'iMitlhi from hhn. Mo'ly th.tt.rinliH-3 to yo with Mm. CHAPTER III Continued. "VI en .loo's iloiilh ciime home to rue I thought things over In tlierc. mill It seemed to me Hint the only tiling iiossii.le for me would he to go hefnre the shareholders ii ml tell them frankly what lay In hinil the etiter-prise etiter-prise I mean the dry lands and their development. "Well, Molly, I've changed my mind. I won't tell them. I'll keep control for Kilty. And I'll advise the shareholders share-holders to proceed with the route we've planned. I'll take the responsibility. respon-sibility. I'.ig Muskeg can be crossed. It shall he. "And I'll do more than that, Molly. I'll (tot the shareholders' authorization authoriza-tion before they know Joe's dead. If they knew thai, it'd be all up with the line. liowyer doesn't know. Nobody Knows except ourselves. "I've told you ail this, Molly, because be-cause yon have the right to know. And Just as soon as we've won I shall Ik? in u position to ask you to be my wife. Will you, dear?" Molly turned and put her bands on bis shonhii'i'S. "Yes, Will," she answered. "And I hope witli all my heart that you succeed suc-ceed in carrying out Joe's plans. And I believe you will. And I believe yon will find n way to cross Big Muskeg. I see now that I must let you go, though I can't bear to, Will. F.ut now 1 must say something. You know my fill her" "Doesn't altogether approve of me lis a soil-in law, to put it mildly," answered an-swered Willon. "I can't make out the reason for Ids dislike of me. The , Vv- III "ti. Will," She Answered. first (ime 1 came here we struck up a fricnd.diip that looked as if it would be good for all time. Do you know what the trouble is. Molly?" "I'm afraid Tom I'.owyer has been Influencing him against you. He has a strong power over father, lie helped liii.-i in some way when be first came u this country." "Then that's another score against our friend lawyer," said Wilton. "Km I was going to say you see, my fa'lier's mind has given way to some extent s!uee his stroke, and I don't know Will, dear Vvt I'm almost afraid lie is never pilng to be the some man again. It started even before be-fore his at nick this feeling against you a ii.) Ins morosenees. It began wlu-e Tom l!,..-.vyer was here last autumn, au-tumn, ''m afraid liowyer slandered -u to rather. And I think it was my father's blooding over tilings that leally caused his lllnos?. So we'll just lave to (e patient. And I'm going to risk you. pt the present, not to say anything Kiut this to bin." V.'iltor. promised, though with reluctance, reluc-tance, lie .lid not like the concealment. Ills mi-id, s'mple and direct, worked In straightforward weirs. However, U? luni been too hard hit over Ji)8 , 'h-i.rh to make room f..r a new trouble. trou-ble. And lie could not have refused Molly. CHAPTETf! IV "In the King's Name!" Cut he worried over the siroatlon ai! niglil, and in the morning Moliy saw v.ilh alarm that he was in u feverish fe-verish condition. He should never have left his bed, und the journey -,t omed impossiblo. got to go, Molly," was all Wil'on could' say. "Then," she said with sudden decision, deci-sion, "I shall go wllh you. You can't travel alone. Your men may be faithful faith-ful enough, but It is my right to go. And you'll never g"t to the meeting without some one to take care of you on the way. That's my condition, l'romlse me or else I'll lock the store door, Will, and I've got a padlock that even you couldn't force." Molly seemed to he animated by a , resolution as feverish as his own. Jules Ilalfhead had not fuliilled his Intention of absenting himself, prob-'ihly prob-'ihly on account of (he storm, which had made the security of the store seem preferable to life in the forests. He was faithful to the factor, and had never deserted him in need. He could lake care of him during tiie four or live days of her absence. Wilton was forced to yield. "Hut you must make sure that Jules will stay," he said. "He'll understand. "He'll stay," answered an-swered the girl. "He's never run away when I was gone to Moose Lake or Winnipeg." , Molly went up to the factor's room with the faint hope of reaching some understanding of plumbing her father's fa-ther's feeling against Wilt&n and overcoming over-coming it. "Mr. Carruthers Is getting ready to go," she said. "He is very ill. He Is too weak to travel alone, but lie must take Joe liostock's body back to Clayton." Clay-ton." "Oh, aye !" said the factor, sneering. "He needs care and attention during the Journey. So I am going with him." The factor sat up in bed, transfixing her with a look of fury. "YTou. lass you will go with Wilton Carruthers to Clayton!" he cried. "Ye whma come hanie, then ! Mark me, now, I've done witli you for aye ! Molly, lass, ye winna go !" be pleaded, with a sudden change of tone. "Think of your good name in Clayton ! I liavena reared ye to have ye desert me in my old age and sickness, sick-ness, Molly." Site turned quickly away to keep her tears from falling. "Jules can take care of you for a few days, father," fa-ther," she said. "It's not as if you were helpless. And his life Is at stake." "And mebbe he'll die if you don't stay with bin) when ye get to Clayton, eh, lass?" rasped out the factor in withering scorn. That scorn nerved her; to bis weakness weak-ness she had almost yielded. She went down and dressed hers'f for the journey. jour-ney. She helped Wi'ton on with a mackinaw, anil put n caribou robe in the sleigh. Then, while the men were harnessing the dogs, struck by a sudden sud-den thought, she stooped and began to examine the tracks of the snow-shoes snow-shoes about the edge of the portave. They ran confusedly in nil directions, for the marks had been made by seven different pairs those of Bowyer and Chambers and. their Indian; those of Wilton and his two half-breeds; those of the deaf-mute. Of these Wilton's were blurred and almost indistinguishable, made by his dragging feet as she pulled him up from the swamp. Rut even had the vague purpose in Molly's mind been clear to her. there would have been no need to examine those. The rest were all similar in one respect none had a broken string. Wilton and Molly had arranged that he was to travel in the sleigh, to which a second had been attached, bearing Joe's body in a roughly made cottin constructed by the men. The dogs were harnessed, and they started. It was a little more than fifty miles to Clayton. Traveling along t lie cleared road, the distance could be covered easily in two days. The dogs ran wel, the weather was clear and line, and Wilton felt well enough to walk a good deal. Their dinner was almost like a picnic. Dy evening the railhead had come into sight in the distance, the empty camp, the long sheds with the miscellany of supplies, the locomotive shops, and the great ballast pits beside the line. As the dogs climbed the last hdl there came yelping from the cleared way behind them. Looking hack, they perceived a sled approaching. Two men walked beside it, and the dogs, sighting Wilton's, yelped in challenge, which was taken up in an outburst of answering growls. The sled drew in toward them, und the men resolved themselves into a sergeant and a constable of the mounted mount-ed police. Wilton had stopped his 'logs, but the newcomers did not halt, and went on. with curt greetings, toward the cache. A little surprised at their abruptness. Wilton let the sled precede bis sleigh As the dofrs were eager for their meal , he sen. JHpillon ahead with them, and j followed more leisurely with Molly. They arrived at the cache a few minutes min-utes after the half-breeds, to find the two policemen waiting for them, while the two men were unharnessing the dogs. Anderson, the old Swedish caretaker, care-taker, was standing beside Joe's coliin witli a stunned look on his face. The .ill icemen were not of prepossessing appearance. The elder man, the sergeant, ser-geant, was about forty years of age. He had fair hair, drooping mustache, a slight cast in one eye, and an expression ex-pression of sullen insolence. His companion, com-panion, a short, stocky young fellow, looked hardly less surly and evidently 111 at ease. "ICvening, Mr. Carruthers," said the sergeant bruskly. "I'm sergeant I'e-ters, I'e-ters, and this is Constable Myers. That's Joe liostock's body you're bringing bring-ing in. I guess." Wilton was staggered. "Y'es, It's Joe," he said, gulping. "How did you get the news?" The policemen exchanged glances. I'eters smiled scornfully under his long mustache. "It's known, all right. W)mtmr The Two Policemen Came In. It's our job to know them things," he answered. "I'm taking charge of it to bring it in for the inquest." "Rut you are not from Clayton," said Wilton, who, of course, knew all the members of the small force of police that was stationed there. "We're from the I'as," answered the sergeant shortly. From the Fas! That explained how tiie sled had come along the road behind be-hind him. liowyer must have discovered discov-ered the fact of Joe's death In some manner, and had probably spread (he news. Wilton surmised that Juies Ilalfhead had somehow managed to indicate the fact to him. The constable solved his problem. "We was on patrol," he vouchsafed. "And we met parries who told us about Joe Rostock having met with an accident, and that you was bringing him in." "That'll be all!" snapped the sergeant, ser-geant, looking angrily at Myers, who subsided promptly. "I guess this young woman is Molly McDonald?" he cont'nued. "This lady is .Miss McDonald," said Wilton angrily, "and you'll keep a civil tongue in your head, sergeant." I'eters looked him up and down insolently, inso-lently, and for a moment or two the men faced each other in an aggressive attitude. Then the sergeant, sneering, swung on his heel. Wilton did not know what to make of his attitude, for rhe police were always friendly. Andersen's room was placed at Molly's Mol-ly's disposal, and after Wilton had seen to her comfort he went outside the shack. The dogs were yelping and snarling over their lish from the caclie. I'a-pillon I'a-pillon had just finished feeding them, and Wilton thought Peters had been speaking to him. I'robably the sergeant ser-geant was trying to obtain Information. Informa-tion. The Swede came up to Wilton, holding hold-ing a pan of sizzling brown potatoes. "I can't believe it. Mr. Carruthers," he said. "Only last week he passed through here with you. Gosh, he was a fine man. Joe was! now did It hap- j pen? And you're hurt yourwelf. sir." lie continued, glancing at Wilton's arm. "Joe was shot at my side in the., woods. The same bullet hit me. I don't know who fired the shot. But I'm going to know," said Wilton grimly. "My Cod, it's all np with the line yet!" muttered t lie old man, withdrawing with-drawing to his fire. Wilton looked at Molly., who had come out. of the bedroom and was -tanding near him. Andersen's exclamation excla-mation bad gaged the whole situation. Wilton felt physically nauseated by the bent in the shack, the uniileasnnt-noss uniileasnnt-noss of the situation, and a incurrence if pain In his wound. He went over to Andersen. "Do you happen to know either of those fel- j ows?" ke asked. 1 "1 never saw them before, sir," said the old man. "I guess they ain't from these parts, from the looks and the ways of 'em." "There's a new lot co;ne up from Yorkton lately. -Maybe they shifted these to the I'as when they sent some of tiie I'as men on to Clayton," Wilton rellected. He turned to Molly. "Anyway, "Any-way, we'll start bright and early," he said. "I suppose we'll have to have those fellows' company as far as Clayton. Clay-ton. Rut I wonder" He paused. "I wonder whether Joe would forgive me for leaving him in the hands of strangers for a while, If It were for Kitty?" lie mused. The two policemen came in, looking surly ami uncommunicative as ever. After a hurried meal, eaten almost in silence, Molly said good-night to Wilton Wil-ton and went into the caretaker's room. As the door closed behind her Wilton saw the two men look after her. The constable whispered something some-thing to the sergeant, and both chuckld. Wilton's blood was' boiling, but he controlled himself. This was for Kitty, and his debt to Joe. The policemen prepared to lie down. Andersen was already snoring upon the floor. The half-breeds, however, had not come In, and Wilton, going to the stables, found them curled up among the huskies. "You fellows bad better come Into the shack," he said, "unless you want to freeze." PapIIlon refused. "Them d n dogs will fight each other," he said, "if we dont stay here." "Just as you like," said Wilton. It was not unusuni for rival teams of huskies to attack each other, but such antipathy generally developed from the first, and the dogs seemed contented enough. He went back to the shack and lay down, turning over in his mind what he was projecting, but he was utterly worn out, and fell asleep before he was aware of It. When he opened his eyes it was already al-ready dawn. The policemen were dressed and standing outside the shack, conversing In low tones. Andersen An-dersen was peeling potatoes for breakfast. break-fast. Wilton heard Molly moving within with-in the room, and his doubts fell from him. He had been upset by the surliness surli-ness of the two men ; he had bad vague suspicions not justified In fact. He determined to put his proposal to them. He walked over to the sergeant, who was just re-entering the shack with his companion. "I suppose you fellows are thinking of starting at once, after breakfast," he suggested. The sergeant looked him up and down. "That's about the size of it," he growled. "Got any objection?" Wilton resolutely ignored the affront. af-front. "I've got important business in Clayton, Clay-ton, affecting Mr. Rostock's interests," he said. "It is very important that his deatli should not be known there until midday tomorrow." The constable, who was leaning aga'nst the door-post, chewing the eiid of a twig, started slightly. Peters fixed Wilton with his crooked star . "Rather a nervy thing to propose, Mr. Carruthers!" he sneered. "Maybe, but it's a business k atter affecting Mr. Rostock's wife," sai 1 Wilton, Wil-ton, loathing himself for making the request, hut nerving himself tl do so by the thought of Kitty. "If (fie news of his death reaches Claytcn before the time I've mentioned, some people who are antagonistic to Mr liostock's interests will jump at the chance to turn it to account. It v 111 mean a heavy loss to Mrs. Rost ick. You've come n long way, and yn.i could quite reasonably wait till afivrnoon on account ac-count of the dogs. Thai will bring you in before noon tomorro.v. And if yon can see your way to if, you two won't be tli e losers." The sergeant eyed htm more Insolently Inso-lently than ever. "So that's the program, pro-gram, is it?" he ansvored. "Well, keen your n.lnd easy. The news won't be known in Clayton tonight, nor tomorrow tomor-row neither. We I in't going to Clayton." Clay-ton." "You're not, ell Then where the devil are you going?" cried Wilton, nettled almost hoyond endurance at the man's demean ir. "We're taking Joe Rostock's body back to the Van." retorted the sergeant. ser-geant. "That's what we come here for." "The Pas? Tills Isn't in the Pas jurisdiction !" "It ain't, eh? Perhaps It's in yours, then?" "See here." cr eri Wilton m exasperation, exas-peration, "Claytou has its own police Attachment, as ;rou know perfectly well. Your route doesn't lie in this direction. Joe Rostock's home's there. He's, going to be huried there. And his body Isn't going to be dragged here j and there about the country by a 1 "ouple of foi l pnlicometi. T'n niake ' things pretty warm for yOU f yon rrT any gnme like thn'." "Keep yo-jr hr.nris up, rich ,,t you. Give me the -evoiver Molly!' ' ITO US CON'UNTil-TiTJ " |