Part 9 (2/2)

Wandle laughed.

”It struck me as likely. You know there's not a rancher in the district who would hurt the man. He was easy to get on with.”

”Did you know that he borrowed money on his holding and took it with him the night he disappeared?”

”I didn't,” said Wandle, starting. ”I'm not pleased to hear it now. I've a claim on the place and there are some pretty big storekeepers' bills to come in.”

Curtis asked a few more questions before he took his leave. He pa.s.sed near the ash pail as he went out and Stanton touched it with his foot, but they had mounted and reached the trail before either of them spoke.

”Well?” said Curtis.

Stanton smiled.

”Nothing much to be learned from him; the fellow's about as sly and hard to get at as a coyote.”

”A sure thing,” Curtis agreed. ”We'll keep an eye on him; I've a suspicion he knows something.”

Then they trotted away in the moonlight, for it was a long ride to their camp beside the muskeg, which with the a.s.sistance of several men they were engaged in searching.

On the next afternoon, Prescott was at work in the summer fallow, sitting in the iron saddle of a gangplow, which four powerful horses hauled through the crackling stubble. It was fiercely hot and he was lightly clad in thin yellow s.h.i.+rt and overalls. A cloud of dust rose about him from the parched soil, and the broad expanse of wheat which the fallow divided glowed with varied colors as it rippled before the rush of breeze, the strong greens changing to a silvery l.u.s.ter as the lush blades bent and caught the light. Farther on, there were faint streaks of yellow among the oats; the great stretch of gra.s.s was white and delicate gray, the rows of clods behind the plow rich chocolate-brown.

Prescott, however, paid little attention to his surroundings. He was perhaps the only man in the district who had known Jernyngham intimately; he felt troubled about his disappearance, and he had had a disturbing interview with Wandle during the morning. The Austrian had contested his right to manage the farm, declaring that Jernyngham owed him money and had made certain plans for the joint working of their land which must be carried out. This did not so much matter, in a sense, if one could take Jernyngham's death for granted; but Prescott could not do so and had, moreover, no intention of letting his property fall into the hands of a cunning, grasping fellow, who, he was fully persuaded, had no real right to it. If Jernyngham did not turn up, Prescott meant to discharge all his debts after harvest and, as the crop promised well, to send the balance to England as a proof that his friend had not been a failure in Canada.

This might be some comfort to Jernyngham's people.

He was considering the matter when he heard the stubble crackle behind him and, looking around, saw Curtis riding up. Stopping his team, he waited until the corporal drew bridle.

”Have you found him yet?” he asked.

”We have not,” said Curtis. ”It's a big muskeg and quite deep. You know the place?”

”Oh, yes, I know it pretty well.”

Curtis looked at him sharply, but Prescott seemed to be musing.

”It's a sad thing when you think of it,” he said after a few moments.

”From the little he told me, the man had hard luck all through; and that Mrs. Jernyngham should leave him just after he'd sacrificed his future for her must have been a knock-out blow. Yet I've an idea that instead of crus.h.i.+ng it braced him. It pulled him up; he showed signs of turning into a different man.”

”You knew him better than I did,” Curtis replied. ”I heard at the hotel he'd asked you to look after his place, given you a share in the crop.”

”He did. I'd some words with Wandle about the matter this morning; Jernyngham warned me he might pretend he had a claim. However, that's not to the purpose; somehow I feel convinced he'll turn up again. What motive could any one have for killing him? The only man we might have suspected--the fellow who went off with Ellice--must have been on the train bound for St. Paul.”

”He was; we wired the conductor. But the thing's quite simple--the motive was robbery. You remember that wad of bills?” The corporal paused before he added: ”Where did you last see Jernyngham?”

”At the trail-forks near my place. He rode right on; I took the turning.”

”Did you see your man, Svendsen, or his wife when you got home?”

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