"Great! That simplifies matters. You'll defend him?"
"I shall," admitted Thorne, "if he be apprehended."
"But we must fix it so that he won't be," remarked Broderick.
"Or, if apprehended," continued Thorne, "so that he won't be brought to trial." And turning again to Pemmican: "Where is Challoner?"
Pemmican spread his hands apart, shrugged his shoulders and finally answered:—
"Gone—nobody knows where."
Just then the telephone bell rang. Pemmican answered it, listened for an instant and then resigned the receiver as he called:—
"Captain, it's for you."
The captain with some trepidation seized the instrument, and talked in low tones while the rest remained silent. Finally he hung up the receiver and announced:—
"It's my office. Murgatroyd is there now." The captain looked worried as he declared: "He wants to talk to me."