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After that he rode on into the waste, leading one horse; and Helen Foster watched him for a while before she went back, slowly and thoughtfully, to the ranch. On reaching the railroad camp, Kermode was engaged by the contractor to haul in logs cut in a neighboring forest for constructional purposes.
While he considered his answer, the man with the English accent broke in: "We needn't trouble about the point. One name's as good as another, as our friend Kermode, who seems to have been a bit of philosopher, remarked when they put him on the pay-roll." "When I was back at Nelson a smart policeman rode into the camp," said another of the group.
There was a continuous rattling and clinking and roar of falling stones; rails rang as they were moved, and now and then hoarse orders came out of the darkness. After Prescott had asked a few leading questions, the men began to talk of Kermode, who had already left the camp, and the rancher was able to put together the story of his doings there. The muskeg was an unusually bad one.
The man further mentioned that a number of railroad hands had been engaged in putting up the building until lately, when they had been sent on somewhere else, and Prescott inquired if there had been a man among them who answered to his friend's description. "There was," said the other dryly, and called to somebody inside: "Here's a fellow asking for Kermode!"
His face grew darkly red, but with an effort he controlled his anger. "Who can have done this thing?" he asked. "There's no direct evidence to show, but I've my suspicions," Kermode said. "It's dangerous to interfere with people's business, particularly when it isn't quite legitimate. You must have known you ran a risk." "Do you think I should have let that stop me?"
The rancher declared that he did not expect a share, but when Kermode insisted, they arrived at a satisfactory understanding, and soon after Helen appeared the party broke up. Kermode spent three or four pleasant days with his new friends, and when he left the ranch one morning, leading two strong horses, Helen Foster walked with him some distance up the valley.
"Thank you," she said, gathering her courage; and after promising that he would be back in an hour, Kermode went away. He was a man who acted on impulse and, as a rule, the more unusual a course was the better it pleased him. In spite of her lameness Miss Foster was attractive, which, perhaps, had its effect, though he was mainly actuated by compassion and the monotony of his track-laying task.
Kermode had little trouble with his work, which he found profitable, and he rapidly made friends. Among them was a young Presbyterian missionary whom he met for the first time on the hillside, engaged on a squared log with a big jack-plane. He wore knee-boots and a threadbare suit of gray, while his hat had suffered from exposure to the weather.
Even if the thing costs some trouble, can't you instruct your people in Alberta to find out whether a man called Kermode worked in any of the construction camps, and if they're satisfied that he answers Jernyngham's description, to have him followed up in British Columbia?" "There's a point you haven't got hold of," Curtis replied.
Then she hesitated. "But horses are expensive, and I have very little money left. Somehow, it seems to disappear rapidly in Canada." "That's an annoying trick it has," Kermode laughed. "However, you had better start for Drummond this morning, and I'll go with you." The girl looked dubious.
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