"I see you'll have to be convinced. Very well; in the first place, the man would have stuck at nothing, and I've already tried to show you that he'd something to gain by Benson's death." He turned to the latter. "I suspected when we took you away from him that you were running a risk."
"I was running a bigger one before that, if you can call a thing a risk when the result's inevitable," Benson rejoined. "The pace I was going would have killed me in another year or two, and even now I'm half afraid——" He paused for a few moments with sombre face and knitted brows; and then resumed thoughtfully: "I believe you're right, Harding, but you haven't told us how he proposed to get rid of me."
"I'm coming to that. There was, however, another member of this party who was in his way, and he made his plans to remove you both."
"You mean me?" Blake broke in. "It's possible, but I don't altogether see how he'd profit."
"First, let's look at what he did. As soon as he reached the village he heard that we had started from the Hudson's Bay post. It wouldn't be difficult to calculate how long the stores we could carry would last, and he'd see that the chances were in favour of our calling at the village for provisions. Presuming on that, he sent his friends away to look for caribou which they couldn't find. Recollect that they owned to being puzzled because he was a good hunter. Then he cleared out by himself, but I believe that if there was any food left in the place he carefully hid it."
The others felt that their comrade was taking something for granted, but they believed his suspicions were correct. They, however, made no comment, and Harding went on, looking at Blake—
"Now I'll show you how he would have profited. I found this in his pocket."
He took out a letter which he gave to Blake, and the latter started as he recognized the writing. It was from Colonel Challoner to Clarke.
"You had better read the thing; it's justifiable," Benson remarked.
Blake read it aloud, holding the paper near the fire with the light upon his face, which looked very grim.