“There were quite a number of people present in this room when the attempt upon your life was made. It shouldn’t be very difficult to find out whether or not this man is the right one.”
Nichols started forward with an exclamation of surprise. He was staring at the prisoner now with an intentness that seemed scarcely to be assumed. Excitedly, he turned towards Rand.
“By golly, I know now, corporal, where I seen him before,” he declared in a loud and animated voice. “Up at the first portage on the Moose River. He was workin’ there as a packer last summer when I come through. I don’t think he’s the man we’re looking fer atall.”
The mounted policeman turned his head ever so slightly and winked covertly at Dick, who, in company with Sandy and Toma, stood a few feet away, silent spectator in the interesting tableau.
“You really don’t think he’s the man, then?”
“No, he ain’t,” Murky spoke positively. “When I stop to think about that little affair this afternoon, an’ try to get a picture in my mind o’ the pesky breed what made fer to knife me, there’s one thing that stands out. He was a tall man—not short like this breed. I’m tall myself, an’ I remember when I jumped back to clear myself o’ the knife, I looked straight acrost in his eyes. Now, it stands to reason, corporal, that I couldn’t o’ done that if it had o’ been this feller here. I’d o’ looked straight over this man’s head, now wouldn’t I?”
With difficulty, Dick suppressed a laugh. Murky Nichols was noted for his tall stature. Long and lanky, he stood well over six feet and four inches in height. The half-breed was stockily built and inclined to be short. The top of his head reached no higher than the point of Murky’s protruding chin.
“Now that your memory has revived,” Corporal Rand spoke sarcastically, “we may be able to make better progress.”
Dick strode forward with the intention of drawing the mounted policeman’s attention to one detail of the case that had evidently been overlooked. If the half-breed, who confronted Nichols, was not the person who had attempted to stab him, how would it be possible to explain that person’s hasty exit from the trading room immediately following the attack? Also, as Dick was well aware, the prisoner was the same man who had received the roll of bills from Murky earlier in the day.
Dick paused in amazement. Before he could reach the policeman’s side, he saw Rand stoop forward and commence to unlock the prisoner’s hand-cuffs. Then, wonderingly, he watched the corporal move back and permit the astonished half-breed to go free. His voice broke the startled silence of the room: