nconsciously and it got lodged in
the toe of my gum boot, although I always felt certain within myself
till now that I had burned it along with every other scrap of paper I
could find in the shack coming from Brenchfield. My next job was to
cover up all other traces he had left behind. There was the basin of
discolored water on the wash-stand. I threw the water out at the back
door and scoured the basin. I next put the stolen money in a large
blue envelope and thrust it between my trunk and the wall, out of
sight until I should be able to get rid of it through the bank
letter-box when night came. I thought I was through then, when I found
my dirty shirt in the corner--the twin of the one I was then wearing.
It was smeared with blood-stains. Evidently Graham had used that first
on his hands, and the water afterwards. I held up the tell-tale
garment between my fingers, intending to set it ablaze in the stove. I
changed my mind, for shirts were shirts in those days and somewhat
scarce. I decided to give it a thorough washing instead. Somewhere, I
had heard that hot water would not remove blood-stains, so I emptied
some cold water into the basin and got my soap ready to begin. I was
just in the act of dipping the shirt into the water when the screen
door rattled and three men stepped into the kitchen. My heart jumped,
for one of them was Jim Renfrew, Carnaby's Police Chief. The other two
I guessed as plain-clothes men from Vancouver.

"'Sorry to disturb you, Ralston,--but we want you at the Station for a
few minutes. You don't mind coming, eh!' asked Renfrew.

"'What do you want me for?' I asked.

"'Oh, come and see!' said the Chief. 'Just want to ask you something
about something! We won't eat you.'

"Two of them laid hands on me and before I knew just exactly how it
happened, cold metal snapped over my wrists and held me secure. The
stained shirt was snatched out of my hand. I turned angrily, but a
wrench of the handcuffs pulled me up.

"'Cut that out now! Come along quiet! Shut your trap, and say nothing
you might be sorry for later. Come on!'

"One of the plain-clothes men remained behind, while the other and the
Chief took me through the town to the local jail.

"It was some little time before I grasped the awful seriousness of my
position and began to realise how events which I had never thought of
might possibly involve me in this affair at the bank. I was totally
ignorant of how much the police knew; that wa