e my voice?" he asked. Then he added thoughtfully,
"No--and it might have been Fyles, or the other policemen. They were
there."

Charlie suddenly sat up. His hands were grasping the arms of the
rocker.

"The police were there--with you?" he demanded. "What--what were they
doing there--with you?"

The sharp questions, flung at him so quickly, so soberly, suddenly
lifted Bill out of his vain and moody regrets.

In spite of all Kate had told him, in spite of her assurance that
Fyles, and all the valley, believed Charlie to be the head of the
smuggling gang, the full significance of Fyles's presence in the
neighborhood of the pine had not penetrated to his slow understanding
before. Now an added light was thrown upon the matter in a flash of
greater understanding. Fyles was not watching any chance crook. He was
watching Charlie, and he knew it was Charlie, and the assurance of
Charlie's identity extracted from him, Bill, had been a simple blind.
What a fool he had made of himself. Kate was right. The harm he had
done now became appalling.

He promptly became absorbed in a strongly restrained excitement. He
leaned forward and talked rapidly. He had forgotten Charlie's
condition, he had forgotten everything but the danger threatening.

"Here, Charlie," he cried, "I'll tell you just all that happened after
I left here, when you went out. Guess it's a long yarn, but I think
you need to know it for your own safety."

Charlie leaned back in his chair and nodded.

"Go ahead," he said. Then he closed his eyes as Bill rushed into his
narrative.

The big man told it all as far as it concerned his first meeting with
the Setons, his subsequent visit to the saloon, and, afterwards, his
meeting with Fyles. The only thing he kept to himself was his final
meeting with Kate Seton.

At the end of this story Charlie reopened his eyes, and, to any one
more observant than Big Brother Bill, it was plain that his condition
had improved. A keen light was shining in them, a light of interest
and perfectly clear understanding.

"Thanks, Bill," he said, "I'm glad you've told me all that." Then he
rose from his chair, and his movements had become more certain, more
definite. "Guess I'll get off to bed. It's no use discussing all this.
It can lead nowhere. Still, there is one thing I'd like to say before
we quit. I'm glad, I'm so mighty glad you've come along out here to
join me I can't just say it all to you. I'm ready to tumble headlon