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For some time after the door to Kent's room had closed upon the ominous visitation of the Law, young Mercer remained standing in the hall, debating with himself whether his own moment had not arrived. In the end he decided that it had, and with Kent's fifty dollars in his pocket he made for the shack of the old Indian trailer, Mooie.
But he did not want to see a good friend get into trouble on his account. Mercer was impressed. He saw himself an instrument in a possible murder affair, and the thought terrified him. Even at best, Kent told him, they had given and taken bribes, a fact that would go hard with them unless Mooie kept his mouth shut.
"Kim's Bayou! That was a good hiding-place, Mercer!" "A very good place of concealment indeed, sir. As soon as it was dark, Mooie returned to watch. What happened to him I haven't fully discovered, sir. But it must have been near midnight when he staggered up to Crossen's place, bleeding and half out of his senses. They brought him here, and I watched over him most of the night.
And Kent, after that, gripped him by the shoulders and shook him in his silent joy. "I was up all last night," said Fingers in a low voice. "I don't dare move much in the day, or people will wonder. But, God bless my soul! I did move last night, Kent. I must have walked ten miles, more or less. And things are coming coming!" "And Ponte, Kinoo, Mooie ?"
And" he smiled at Mercer "I'm unusually hungry this morning. Add another egg, will you, Mercer? Three instead of two, and a couple of extra slices of toast. And don't let any one know that my appetite is improving. It may be best for both of us especially if Mooie should happen to die. Understand, old man?"
And that window was fifteen feet above the ground! With a little cry the girl threw down her brush, ran to the window, and raised and lowered the curtain once. Then she turned to Kent, swiftly dividing her hair into thick strands and weaving them into a braid. "It is Mooie," she cried. "Kedsty is coming!"
"If Mooie should be badly hurt should die, for instance and it was discovered that you and I " He knew he had gone far enough to give effect to his words. He did not even look at Mercer. "Watch him closely, old man, and report to me everything that happens. Find out more about Kedsty, if you can. I shall advise you how to act. It is rather ticklish, you know for you!
In that instant came a flare of lightning, and to Kent, looking down, was revealed a sight that tightened every muscle in his body. More vividly than if it had been day he saw a man standing below in the deluge. It was not Mooie. It was not Kedsty. It was no one that he had ever seen. Even more like a ghost than a man was that apparition of the lightning flare.
But it's the girl that puzzles me. I've questioned every scow cheman at the Landing. I've investigated every place where she might have got food or lodging, and I bribed Mooie, the old trailer, to search the near-by timber. The unbelievable part of it isn't her disappearance. It's the fact that not a soul in Athabasca Landing has seen her! Sounds incredible, doesn't it?
"But perhaps in a sheltered place ?" "We were in no sheltered place," he assured her. "Can you remember that we were, Gray Goose?" She shook her head slowly. "No. But there was Mooie, under the window." "His footprints will be wiped out." "I am glad. I would not have him, or M'sieu Fingers, or any of our friends brought into this trouble."
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