“I got passage on a york boat up the rivers, and across Caribou Lake. From the lake a freighter took me on his load across the long portage to the Crossing.”
“Ancose,” said the Major, “you watch the prisoner outside, and ask Sergeant Lambert to step here.”
Meanwhile he went on with his questions. “How did you travel from the Crossing?”
“I built a little raft and floated down the Spirit River to Carcajou Point.”
Lambert came in.
“Lambert,” said the Major, “this woman claims to have come over the portage to the Crossing in May with a freighter and to have built a raft there and floated down the river. Can you verify her story?”
“No, sir, never saw her before.”
“Is it possible for her to have done such a thing?”
“Possible, sir,” said Lambert cautiously, “but not likely. It’s part of my business to keep track of all who come and go. There are not enough travellers to make that difficult. Such an extraordinary thing as a woman travelling alone on a raft would have been the talk of the country. If I might ask her a question, sir——?”
The Major signed to him to do so.