“I don’t believe anything is likely to occur now,” responded Dick. “La Qua seems to be very anxious to return to Settlement Mountain. I’ll be very much surprised if the pack-train doesn’t leave there soon after dark.”
The boys were so busily engaged in discussing the proposed trip that they did not hear Constable Pearly when he stole silently up the ladder and emerged to the loft. Dick turned quickly at the policeman’s approach, then started in surprise. The constable’s face was grave, his manner a little furtive. A slight frown had etched more deeply the lines in his forehead. As he came over to where the three boys sat, he raised a finger to his lips.
“I can’t understand it,” he whispered. “The two half-breeds have gone! But that isn’t all! Murky Nichols rode up to the door of the trading room a few minutes ago, and he and La Qua are conferring now just outside. I wonder what it means?”
Dick’s face fell. Here was an unlooked-for turn of events. A feeling of disappointment swept over him. So Murky had become alarmed and had left Fort Good Faith as soon as he had discovered that he, Dick, had eluded him. Was he here to instruct La Qua not to send the pack-train of stolen fur through the pass?
In as few words as possible, Dick informed Pearly of the incidents of the previous night, describing Murky’s suspicious attitude when he had forced his way into Dick’s room.
“Do you think,” he concluded, “that Nichols has come expressly for the purpose of warning La Qua?”
The constable folded his arms and stood for a short time, his brow wrinkled in thought.
“It is hard to guess what will be the outcome of this visit,” he answered finally, “or to know definitely Murky’s purpose. But it is easy to see that he came here on some matter of extreme importance. His horse nearly dropped from exhaustion as he rode in. Its flanks were steaming wet, spattered with mud, while under its belly were two horrible welts which the brute had inflicted with his spurs. At any other time, I would have arrested Murky on the spot for cruelty to a poor dumb animal.”
As he spoke, Pearly’s eyes flashed with indignation.
“He’s driven furiously all the way from Fort Good Faith,” he went on. “He would never have done that unless the occasion warranted the effort.”