“Maybe. Scottish too, Andy’s short for Andrew.”
Jim started. In an instant his unconcern had fallen from him. He sat up, and his booted and spurred feet came down on to the woodwork of the verandah with a clatter. He swung round squatting on the side of his chair.
“Hold on, Sis,” he cried. “Andrew? That was that police boy’s first name. I got it now. And—it’s given me the rest. Corporal Andrew McFardell. That’s the name I’ve been yearning to get. And that’s the man I saw,” he cried in triumph, beating the palm of one hand against his forehead. “I wonder?”
“What?”
But Jim remained maddeningly silent. And it was not till a restless movement on Blanche’s part finally reminded him of her presence that he looked up into her face with a dawning smile.
“It might be,” he said. “It surely looks that way. I guess it must be. He wasn’t in uniform. But his cloth riding-breeches looked like police breeches with the yellow stripe gone. Now, what would have happened to him after my getaway? Guess they’d sort of court-martial him. Sure. Maybe they’d ‘fire’ him. What then? He’d need to scratch a living some way. You can’t quit the Police with a wad on the cents they get. That’s it. That Andy is— Say, Sis, we got to locate that boy Andy, and get to know about him. You can do that. Molly can hand you his story. You——”
He broke off. Blanche’s face had suddenly paled. A great apprehension was looking out of her eyes.
“I told Molly my name was—Pryse,” she cried, aghast.
Jim laughed outright.
“That beats it,” he cried. And Blanche suddenly felt like shaking him. “What a play! If our little Molly knows your name’s Pryse he’ll know it, too. If her ‘Andy’ is my ‘Andrew’ it won’t have him guessing more than a year that Blanche Pryse has to do with one Jim Pryse, who’s caused him a whole deal of trouble. And, having located Jim Pryse down at the creek, right by our highway, what then? It’s easy. Maybe he’s ‘fired’ from the Police. It doesn’t matter a thing. There’s a chance of getting back on the feller who’s queered his job. Sis, we’re going to get half the Mounted Police hitting our trail before we’re many weeks older or—or I’m— No.”