?"

"I don't know. He mentioned your name, that's all. An' I just kind of
surmised from the way he done it that you an' him didn't part the best
of friends."

"I hired him for a guide, and he undertook to give me my orders on the
trail. But I soon showed him where he stood."

Downey nodded. "He's counted bad medicine up here."

"I guess he won't bother me any; I'm here to stay."

"No, he won't be apt to _bother_ you any. Probably kill you, though,
if you don't keep your eyes open. But don't worry about that, because
if he does I'll get him."

"He can't bluff me. I served with the engineers in Russia."

"You'll be servin' with the devils in hell, too, if you don't quit
makin' enemies of men like Alex Thumb."

"They didn't use up _all_ the brains, when they made the Mounted,
Captain."

"_Corporal_'ll do me," corrected the officer. "I wasn't with the
engineers--in Russia. I was only in the trenches--in France."

As Downey slung his pack to his shoulders the following morning he
stepped close to Murchison. The trading room was deserted save for
those two, but the officer lowered his voice. "Wentworth ain't the
only one around here that needs watchin'," he said warningly.

"What do ye mean?"

"I mean your clerk ain't the fool he lets on he is. That room you put
me in was next to his. The chinkin's fallen out in spots, an' his
light was lit late, so I just laid in my bunk an' glued my eye to the
crack. He was readin'--an' enjoyin' what he read. He'd lay down the
book now an' then an' light a good briar pipe. I'd get a good look
into his face then, an' he's no more a fool than you or I. He's damned
smart lookin'. An' the books he had laid out on the table wasn't books
a fool would be readin'. He was careful to hide 'em away when he
rolled in--an' he cleaned his fingernails with a white handled dingus,
an' brushed his teeth, an' put the tools back in a black leather case
that had silver trimmin's. Believe me, there's somethin' comin' off
here between now an' summer, an' I'm goin' to ask for the detail!"

Murchison laughed. "Come on back, Downey, and you'll see the fun. An'
I ain't so sure you won't be needed in your official capacity. But
don't bother your head over Sven Larson. Remember this: it takes a
smart man to play the fool, an' play it right. That's why John McNabb
sent him up here. An' his name ain't Larson; it's Hedin. He's John's
right-hand man--an' if I mistake not someday