The wispy, mocking light that came over Acey Smith’s face when he uttered that last word was lost on Hammond for the moment. He walked back to his quarters in a fighting mood, all the more poignant because he had had to suppress it. Smith seemed to take such a fiendish enjoyment out of making him feel like a child he was studying for the sheer fun of the thing. Too, Hammond’s professional pride had been stung by the other’s broad insinuation that he, for a newspaper man, was wofully asleep to what was going on around him. It had gone the deeper because it was coupled with that vague hint about his attentions to Josephine Stone—at least that was what Hammond had taken the reference to Sir Galahad to mean.

What was going on at the limits? Why were all these mounted police out here? Why did the workmen, muttering in groups, fall so silent when he came near? Undoubtedly, a crisis of some sort was near at hand and he had missed a big piece of news that was breaking right under his nose. He began to concede to himself that he was deserving of the keenest of Acey Smith’s sarcasm. He had needed something like that to bring him down out of the clouds.

At first he was for going down and striking up a conversation with some of the police. On second thought he didn’t—he knew from experience how absolutely close-mouthed Canadian mounted policemen were about their orders. There was little that Sandy Macdougal would not know; he’d ask Sandy first.

But Sandy hadn’t come over from the cook camp when Hammond entered their shack. He had built up the fire in the little heater and lit his pipe when he bethought him of the Star that Acey Smith had passed him.

Under the wall lamp Hammond spread out the paper, then he jumped to his feet as his eyes were caught by a lower corner scare-line heading:—

POLICE LOOKING FOR YOUNG STRANGER
SEEN WITH N. T. GILDERSLEEVE BEFORE
MILLIONAIRE DISAPPEARED FROM TRAIN

Unknown Youth Travelling Alone Was in Pulp Magnate’s Stateroom, Coloured Porter Tells Authorities—Suspicion of Foul Play?

Mysterious Note Delivered En Route

In the body of the article Hammond read a badly-garbled description of himself and an equally highly-elaborated story of his interview with Gildersleeve. The coloured porter’s powers of imagination were in excellent working order, for he told of a loud altercation going on inside the stateroom before he entered, and that both men were standing glaring at each other with drawn, white faces when he was admitted.

It was all very ridiculous to one on the inside as to what really had happened, but quite on a par with most of the wild raft of useless clues brought to the surface by the police dragnet in mystery cases. Hammond might have laughed outright but for another thought that occurred to him.

He was under suspicion of having something to do with Gildersleeve’s disappearance!

So this was why Acey Smith had so suddenly become liberal with a pass over on the tug! The minute Hammond touched foot on Kam City docks he was very liable to be arrested and thrown into jail on suspicion of being concerned in a plot to do away with Gildersleeve. He would afterwards have to go through one of those small town police “third degrees,” usually more brutal and stupid than they were effective.