ave that gentleman in the
guard-room."

Curtis looked astonished and his superior smiled compassionately.

"I mean as a sufferer from mental derangement. Don't be communicative,
and confine yourself to reassuring generalities, if you come across him.
His mind's morbidly fixed on punishing 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 shiver, 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," assented Gertrude.