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Updated: May 23, 2025
In the face of the old hunter's misgiving, Aldous prepared to leave. It was nearly ten o'clock when he set back in the direction of Tête Jaune, Donald accompanying him as far as the moonlit amphitheatre in the forest. There they separated, and Aldous went on alone. He believed that Joanne and the Blacktons would half expect him to return to the bungalow after he had seen MacDonald.
In that time he could take some one into his confidence, probably Blackton and his wife. In fact, as he thought the circumstances over, he saw the necessity of confiding in the Blacktons that very night. He left the station, growing a bit nervous. Was it right for him to take Joanne to his cabin at all? He had a tremendous desire to do so, chiefly on account of Quade.
Slowly Aldous shook his head. He looked at his watch. It was a little after ten. "If I could make myself believe that she would not be safe here I would take her," he said. "But I can't quite make up my mind to that, Mac. She will be in good hands with the Blacktons. I will warn Paul.
Leaving Joanne and Peggy inside, now as busily excited as two phoebe birds, and after Joanne had insisted upon Aldous sleeping at the Blacktons' that night, the two men accompanied MacDonald a few steps on his way back to camp. As soon as they were out of earshot Blackton began cursing softly under his breath. "So you didn't send that damned note?" he asked.
She loved him. She was his wife, and when he went to her it was with the feeling that only a serpent lay in the path of their paradise a serpent which he would crush with as little compunction as that serpent would have destroyed her. Utterly and remorselessly his mind was made up. The Blacktons' supper hour was five-thirty, and he was a quarter of an hour late when he tapped at Joanne's door.
"That means in three quarters of an hour, Johnny. I'll be there. Three saddle-horses and a pack." Where the trail divided they separated. Aldous went directly to the Blacktons'. As he had expected, the bungalow was alight. In the kitchen he saw Tom, the Oriental cook, busy preparing breakfast.
This change she could only partly conceal from him under her veil. She asked him many questions about Tête Jaune and the Blacktons, and tried to take an interest in the scenery they were passing. In spite of this he could see that she was becoming more and more nervous as they progressed toward the end of their journey.
Then he told what had happened when the Blacktons went to town, and when he had finished, and rose despairingly beside the fire, Donald rose, too, and his voice boomed in a sort of ecstasy. "My Jane would ha' done likewise," he cried in triumph. "She would that, Johnny she would!" "But this is different!" groaned Aldous. "What am I going to do, Mac? What can I do?
"Indeed they are," emphasized Peggy Blackton, whom her husband had given a quick look and a quicker nudge, "They're dreadful!" Looking straight into Joanne's eyes, Aldous guessed that she did not believe, and scarcely heard, the Blacktons. "I had a presentiment something was going to happen," she said, smiling at him. "I'm glad it was no worse than that."
The cheery good-nights of the Blacktons followed him. And Joanne's good-night was in her eyes following him until he was gone, filled with their entreaty and their fear. A hundred yards distant, where the trail split to lead to the camp of the engineers, there was a lantern on a pole. Here Aldous paused, out of sight of the Blackton bungalow, and in the dim light read again MacDonald's note.
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