Prescott of Saskatchewan Part 34

"You have my sympathy, Mr. Jernyngham, but you can't be allowed to interfere with the Northwest Police."

Jernyngham pulled himself together.

"I had no wish to be offensive, though I meant what I said. Suppose this fellow goes off again--for good--as soon as he has sold his wheat?"

"That will have to be guarded against. He will be watched; if he leaves his farm, he will be followed."

"He gave you the slip neatly on a previous occasion."

"Quite true," said the officer. "Our men are not infallible. I think I can promise that it will not happen again." Then he rose. "I have some business waiting and you must excuse me. I can a.s.sure you that nothing which promises to throw any light upon the matter will be neglected."

He opened the door and politely but firmly bowed out his visitor. Then he called Curtis, who was waiting below.

"I dare say you can guess Mr. Jernyngham's errand," he said. "Unless we can hit on the truth before long, you'll have that gentleman in the guard-room."

Curtis looked astonished and his superior smiled compa.s.sionately.

"I mean as a sufferer from mental derangement. Don't be communicative, and confine yourself to rea.s.suring generalities, if you come across him.

His mind's morbidly fixed on punis.h.i.+ng Prescott. I don't think he can be convinced that the man is innocent."

"I can't help meeting him, sir. He spends his time following me about. In a way, one can't blame him for what he thinks."

"Though it doesn't agree with your conclusions? Sit down; we have a number of things to talk about."

"Well, sir," said Curtis, "this is certainly a mixed-up case. I've said nothing all along to disturb people's belief that it was Prescott we were after, but if I had to corral one of the two, I'd get Wandle. The land agency man gave us a good description of him."

His superior nodded thoughtfully.

"Prescott impersonated Cyril Jernyngham before his supposed death, and Wandle personated him afterward; the latter with the more obvious motive.

The point is that there's no evidence of collusion, but rather disagreement, between the two. Of course, we could arrest Wandle now."

"Yes, sir. As soon as the agent identified him, we could prove forgery and falsification of the land sale record. He'd be safe in the guard-room or a penitentiary."

"Just so; we will have him there sooner or later, but if he's guilty of the more serious charge, he'd have no opportunity for giving himself away. I'd rather he was left at large and you kept your eye on him. The same applies to Prescott. Now I've been making a fresh study of the diagram of the footsteps near the muskeg, and I can see no fault in the conclusions you arrived at--only the remains can't be found."

"Sure, that's a weak point, sir. But I might mention the case of the person who was found in a bluff a few miles from home after they'd searched the district for six months."

"It has been in my mind. But you have other matters to report on. What about the disturbance on the Indian reservation?"

While they discussed it, Jernyngham set out for the Leslie homestead and on his arrival found Gertrude alone. Sitting down with a s.h.i.+ver, he looked at her dejectedly.

"I have failed again. They will do nothing; there's no satisfaction to be had," he said. "I drove out my son by arbitrary harshness, and now the only reparation I might have made is denied me."

"You were harsh," a.s.sented Gertrude. "I have begun to realize it since we came to Canada--one sees things differently here. But, in a sense, I think you were not to be blamed; you acted in the belief that you were right."

She had seldom ventured to address him with so much candor and she was surprised at his calmness.

"Yes," he said, "it is some relief to remember that; but I was wrong."

"Then shouldn't it make you more careful not to fall into a similar error again? You have a fixed idea in your mind and the way you dwell on it is breaking you down; seeing you suffer is wearing me. Can't you believe that there is room for doubt?"

"I wish I could," he said with some gentleness, recognizing the anxious appeal in her voice. "But I imagined you were as convinced as I am of Prescott's guilt."

"Oh," she replied miserably, "I believed I was; but I don't know what to think!"

He noticed the distress in her face with uncomprehending sympathy. He was fond of her, in his stern, reserved fas.h.i.+on, and knew she must deeply feel the loss of her brother.

"As soon as he saw he was suspected, Prescott ran away," he continued.

"That must count against him. If he had had any motive except the wish to escape, he would have mentioned it."

Gertrude sat silent, tormented by confused emotions. Prescott had told her he was going to hunt for Cyril, and until she had seen his devotion to Muriel she had felt that she must believe in him; then her mind had been filled with jealousy and doubt. She thought she hated him; after all, he might be guilty. It was not her part to speak in his defense; though she felt she was acting treacherously, she could not stand up for him.

"It is possible that the police were wrong about Cyril," she said at length.

"I'm afraid not," said Jernyngham. "It might be urged that Prescott has come back; but I believe that was only to sell his wheat." He broke into a harsh laugh. "One must admit that the fellow has courage; but he won't find it easy to escape again. Every move of his will be watched."

Gertrude sat very still for a few moments, her lips tightly pressed together. Then she made a gesture of weariness.

"Oh," she said, "it's all so hard to bear! There's nothing but doubt and suspense; not a ray of comfort!"

Getting up languidly she went out and left her father lost in thought.

An hour or two afterward, Prescott sat near the stove in his homestead, moodily making entries in an account-book, when he heard voices in the pa.s.sage and looked up with a start. The next moment the door opened and Muriel Hurst came in. His heart throbbed furiously at the sight of her; she looked excited and eager; her rich furs enhanced her charm. He thought she made a wonderfully attractive picture in the small, simply furnished room, but he laid a strong restraint upon himself as he rose.

"I felt that I had to come; I wanted to show that your friends still trusted you," she said impulsively.

He made no move to bring her a chair.

"It was a generous thought, but, considering everything, I don't know that it was wise. Did you tell Colston or your sister that you were coming?"

"No," she answered with a trace of confusion; "I left rather in a hurry."

Then she broke into a forced laugh. "This isn't the welcome I expected!"

Prescott's eyes gleamed.

"You know I'm glad to see you."

"Well," she said, sitting down with a hint of defiance in her air, "that's the most important thing; though the confession had to be extorted from you. It looked as if you wanted to get rid of me."

"I felt I ought to."

Muriel looked at him with amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Duty against inclination! It's a pity the former was beaten. But aren't you falling into our way of thinking rather fast?"

"That isn't strange. I've had English ideas impressed on me pretty forcibly during the last few months. But you made a statement that surprised me. Does Colston trust me?"

"He wants to."