Welland had grown cold.
"Those of you in the know thought I was asleep. A certain individual who ran the whole thing"—Welland half arose, a mad impulse to run away upon him; but Hector did not betray him—"he thought so, too. What are the facts? I have secret agents everywhere, known only to myself. One of them, in Prospect, brought me the first inkling of the plot. Unfortunately, he was shot before he could get more information. But others worked for me. What they couldn't discover, I guessed. I knew that gangsters were smuggling themselves through the pass; and that arms were being smuggled in, too. In fact, I let many of them through, so that those at the bottom of the plot wouldn't smell a rat. You've been told, by special speakers, a pack of lies. Mr. Lancaster and I, over a month ago, took steps to show you that they were lies. We knew that the telegraph lines were being tapped, but we kept on sending ordinary messages through, so that your leaders wouldn't know that. We knew that even the mails weren't safe. So we sent a special runner to our office in Prospect, with two messages to be forwarded and he brought the answers back. The first message was to the Dominion Government, the second to the Government of the United States, through the Dominion Government. They dealt with the situation and they secured answers which show how you've been duped. In this one, the Dominion Government pledges itself to a clean-up, through Mr. Lancaster, and to grant you wider powers than you have had hitherto. In that one, the American Government assures us that, contrary to what you've been told, it will on no account support any attempt to wrest Black Elk from Canada!"
There was absolute silence. Hector held the letters up.
"Look at them. If you think they're forgeries, let your representatives examine them! But wait—there is something else in this letter from Ottawa. The Government is sending ten thousand troops up here to crush any revolt. We asked for them. They're on their way. That's what you've been led into!
"And the situation—now? I've stripped all my posts and detachments. Nearly all my officers and men arrived here secretly last night. They are now standing to arms with four machine-guns, at the barracks. There are also there a thousand loyal citizens of this Territory, all armed and under my orders. Half an hour ago, raids were made on the places where the would-be leaders of the revolt—Greasy Jones and his cut-throats—were hiding. Greasy Jones was shot dead by Inspector Cranbrook, after the gangster had wounded him. The rest are behind the bars. We also captured documents, stamps, flags and so on, giving conclusive evidence of what was coming. And we know that many of you are armed.
"That's all I have to say. This thing can't succeed. The Americans will not support it. Troops are on the way to back us up. The men who planned it are in our hands. Your grievances have been adjusted. We are fully armed and prepared to stand by the Flag to the last. What I say goes. Now, boys, take my advice and go home."
There he ended.
The effect of this dramatic and totally unexpected exposure of the whole plot and of Adair's preparations was indescribable. Even Lancaster was speechless—Hector had confided in him only what was absolutely necessary. Welland, unable to grasp the situation, was stunned. As for the crowd, it was paralysed. Hector had impressed them from the first. His final disclosures completed their stupefaction. Suddenly they saw the revolution with the bottom knocked out and remembered that this man was called 'Spirit-of-Iron.'
Hector sensed the change immediately and knew that he had triumphed. All his past life, his early training, his development, had been leading up to this crisis—this crisis which involved not only himself and his own welfare, as other crises had done, but also a great national issue, the defeat, not only of his own enemy, but the enemy of his country. In a moment he saw that Destiny had given him victory in this last grim battle. His part was done.
But the assassin had not yet played his part. He had been instructed to fire as soon as the Superintendent ceased speaking. To him the change in the state of affairs involved no change. Through the strange silence came the crash of a rifle fired from somewhere on the outskirts of the great crowd—fired while Hector was still at the edge of the platform. Then Nita Oswald's voice, shrieking, clear and high: