rday. For it seemed immeasurably long
ago to me as well.

"It was stored there," he said. "We had brought it up from St.
Boniface by sleigh--so carefully. Leroux intended to begin mining as
soon as Louis returned. And when he died I meant to kill you both, so
that the gold should all be mine. I told you it was here because I
thought you meant to kill me, but I meant to kill you when you had made
an end of Leroux. And you killed me. Damn you!" he snarled. "Why did
you not let me go?"

He paused, and I heard him gasp for breath. His fingers clutched at my
coat-sleeve again and hooped themselves round mine like claws of steel.

"I had a knife--once," he resumed, relapsing into his delirium; "but I
left it behind me and the police got it. Isn't it odd, Leroux," he
rambled on, "that one always leaves something behind when one has
killed a man? But the newspapers made no mention about the knife. You
didn't know he was dead, did you, Leroux, for all your cleverness,
until that fool Hewlett left that paper upon the table? You knew
enough to send me to jail, but you didn't know that it was I who killed
him. Help me!" He screamed horribly. "He is here, looking at me!"

"There is nobody here, Philippe," I said, trying to soothe his agony of
soul. What a poor and stained soul it was, travelling into the next
world alone! "There is nobody but me, Philippe!"

"You lie!" he raved. "Louis is here! He has come for me! Give me
your knife, Hewlett. It is for him, not for me. He deserved to die.
He tricked me after we had found the gold. He tricked me twice. He
told Leroux, thinking that he would win his gratitude and get free from
the man's power. And the second time he told Carson."

My heart was thumping as he spoke. I hardly dared to hope his words
were true.

"He was my friend," he mumbled. "We were friends since we were boys.
We would have kicked Leroux into the street if he had dared to enter
our homes. But we owed so much money. And he discovered--what we had
done. He wanted our family interest; he wanted to make use of us. And
when we found the mine, Louis thought we would never be in need of
money again. But Leroux was pressing him, threatening him. And so he
told him. Then there were three of us in the secret.

"Leroux had formed a lumber company with Carson, but he did not tell
him about the gold. He formed his scheme with Louis. They said
nothing to me; they wanted to leave me out.