As for Moira O'Malley, the double surprise was almost too much. Fright had prevented her recognition of the familiar features of her Northern suitor now that his hair was turned to red; and all through the hunt, no hint had come to her from the close-lipped sleuth of the open places that the man he had sworn to "get" had raised his hand against her brother.
CHAPTER XXVI
BOOT AND BOOTY
"You'd best behave, Karmack." Seymour accented the name of surprise that the girl might become convinced that their hunt was really done. "Your dyed pate don't fool me and I'm no longer bound by our slogan of 'never fire first.' You took a couple of first shots up in the Arctic, remember, and have just tried another here. One false move and you get yours."
Karmack stood very still. "What do you mean by that murder talk, Seymour?" he asked after a moment in which, evidently, he realized the folly of further denial of identity. "I may have squeezed a little from the grasping old Arctic to give me a start in British Columbia, but I swear I had nothing to do with the strangling of young O'Malley."
Moira still seemed puzzled. "I thought— Didn't the jury say that Avic, the Eskimo—" She could not finish for emotion.
"It takes two men to use the Ugiuk-line effectively," Seymour explained to the girl. "I know, for I've had one around my own neck and barely broke out of the clutch. This fiend hired Avic to help him put your brother away—hired him with promise of a trip Outside to be tried for murder. Can you imagine! Now it will be ex-Factor Karmack who takes the trip—Inside."
Karmack moved restlessly, with the result of tightening the sergeant's grip. "But man, what motive could I possibly have had?" he begged nervously. "What motive?"
"From some outside source you learned that O'Malley had been sent to Armistice to investigate you and you knew that, despite your best efforts, he had succeeded in getting the goods. What you didn't know was that already he had sent out his report. I've been almost sure of your guilt ever since I learned that those black and silver fox pelts came from your old company's store room, two of the lot you held out on your employers."
Seymour turned to Moira. "Would you mind, dear, telling those Siwashes to get back to work? Please convince them who I am and that I've taken charge in the king's name. That always goes strong with Indians. Make them understand that none of them is to leave the diggings."