The Cryptogram Part 36

"Certainly--certainly! You have not been misinformed, Mr. Burley."

"And some of these travelers never came back--never returned to claim their belongings?"

"Alas! too many of them," replied Macdonald. He shook his head sadly as he filled the bowl of his pipe. "You have stirred up a host of buried and half-forgotten memories," he went on, in a reminiscent tone, puffing out clouds of smoke. "I recall dozens of poor fellows--hunters, trappers, and explorers--who set out with hopeful hearts to conquer the perils of the wilderness, and have not been heard of to this day. Their trunks and boxes are still in the fort--their bones are scattered in the solitudes of the Great Lone Land. Of course a greater number turned up again, and it is quite likely that some of the missing ones are alive.

You see, their property may not have been worth sending for."

I began to see the drift of Mr. Barley's questioning.

"You knew these men?" he asked.

"Yes; at the time."

"And you have no recollection of Osmund Maiden? He would have been a young man of about twenty--handsome and spirited, well educated."

"I have told you before, sir," replied the factor, "that the name is strange to me. I should probably recall him if he had pa.s.sed through the fort, for I have a very keen memory."

"Twenty-nine years is a long time--long enough for much to slip the mind," said Mr. Burley. "I have been in the Canadas for the better part of a year, sir, and I have made not the slightest advancement in the matter that brought me from England. It is strange that a man should vanish with leaving a clew behind him, and I will not confess that I am beaten. My task, gentlemen, is to find Osmund Maiden alive, or to discover clear proof of his death. And it occurred to me to-night that he may have been one of those luckless travelers who pa.s.sed through Fort Garry to tempt fortune in the wilderness."

"It is not impossible," replied Macdonald. "I could not swear to the contrary."

"It seems like enough," said I. "At that period few went to the far north except by way of Fort Garry."

Mr. Burley gave me a grateful glance, and regaled himself with a second pinch of snuff.

"I will come to the point, Mr. Macdonald," he resumed. "These unclaimed trunks and boxes--you say they are in the fort?"

"Yes; they are stored in an upper room of this very house--at least, the greater part of them. All that were deposited here during the last five or six years are in another building."

Mr. Burley's relief and satisfaction were visible on his face.

"I presume that a record was kept of such deposits?" he asked.

"Yes, from the first," the factor answered. "It was done in a business-like way. Every man who left a trunk or a box here was given a receipt. Then his name was entered in a book and numbered, and his number was marked on his property."

"And that book?"

"A new one was started a few years ago," replied Macdonald. "The first one went to pieces with age, and had to be put aside."

"And what became of it?" the law clerk cried eagerly. "It was not lost?"

"Lost? Of course not, sir. I have it stored away in some place."

"Ah, that is fortunate! I beg you to produce it, Mr. Macdonald. It will be very easy to ascertain if I am right or wrong. If Osmund Maiden pa.s.sed through Fort Garry, and left any luggage behind him, his name will appear in the record."

"Quite true," a.s.sented the factor; "but I am sorry that I can't--"

He stopped suddenly, and put his head to one side.

"I fancy I heard a shout yonder--off by the gates," he added. "Did you hear anything, Carew?"

"No." I replied; "it must have been the wind."

Macdonald turned to the law clerk.

"I was about to remark," he continued, "that I can't put my hands on the record-book to-night. But I will search for it to-morrow morning, and give you the satisfaction of examining the entries."

"You are very kind, sir," replied Christopher Burley. "And I trust I shall find----"

He was interrupted by a quick, imperative rap on the door.

"Come in!" cried Macdonald.

At the summons a clerk entered, holding a sealed envelope in his hand.

"From the settlement," he said. "Very urgent, sir! It came by messenger a moment ago."

The factor silently opened the envelope, drew out a letter and glanced over it briefly. Then his deep-sunken eyes flashed with rage.

"The daring scoundrels!" he cried. "Listen! This is from Walker, my right-hand man in the colony," and in a hoa.r.s.e voice he read aloud as follows:

"I have just learned, through a trusted Indian spy, that some Northwest men captured a traveler twenty miles up the river this morning. The prisoner is said to be a Hudson Bay Company courier, bound for Fort Garry with important dispatches from the north. He is held on a trumped-up charge of some sort, and before daylight to-morrow he is to be hurried round the fort and the settlement and conveyed down the river to the Northwest Company's main post. His captors number seven, and to-night they are putting up at Lagarde's store. This is reliable, and I have kept it quiet so far. I wait your commands, and will execute them promptly."

Having finished, the factor crumpled the letter into a ball, and poured some whisky with a steady hand. I sprang to my feet, heated by excitement and indignation. The three officers had been listening; they dropped their cards, and hastened across the room to us.

"Can this be true?" I cried.

"I believe it," said Macdonald. "It's bad news, and I only hope it won't be the spark to fire the blaze. But my duty is clear all the same, and I intend to act promptly. Not through Walker and the colonists, though; we must strike direct from the fort. Let me see; Lagarde's store is eight miles from here--six north of the settlement. There is no time to lose, for it is past midnight. The messenger has not gone, Stirling?"

"No, sir; he is waiting," replied the clerk.

"Start him back at once," directed the factor. "Bid him tell Walker to do nothing in the matter--that I have taken it into my hands. And he is to be careful that not a word of the affair gets out. I don't want anything known until it is all over. I can't trust the colonists; they are too hot headed and reckless."

"Very good, sir."

"You may go. Be quick."

The clerk hurried off, and Macdonald turned to the officers.

"Lieutenant Boyd, I am going to put this mission into your hand," he said, "and I hope you understand its delicate nature. Take twenty men armed and mounted. Follow the road that swings off to the left of the settlement, and then ride straight on to Lagarde's; the night is dark, and the crust is in fine condition for horses. These are your orders: First make sure that the ruffians have a prisoner; then compel them to deliver him up. But let there be no fighting or bloodshed, if possible.

Don't fire a shot unless you are fired on yourselves."

"I understand, sir," replied the officer. "I will do my best. With your permission I will take McKay and Nicoll"--pointing to his fellow-officers. "And perhaps Mr. Carew would like to come?"

"With all my heart!" I exclaimed eagerly; for the adventure promised to be to my taste.

A moment later, Macdonald, having added a few words of instruction, we were out of the house and hastening toward the men's quarters.