“MR. RAYNER is going to the North?” questioned Miss La Farge.

“Yes, he is going to Canada—and so am I, as early as possible. You will not mind accompanying me, Babette.”

“Mind! I shall be more than glad to get back to the silent North. This noisy London gets on my nerves, and the smell of the streets is horrible. It is petrol everywhere. The place reeks of it, and after the aromatic spruce woods the air here is like poison. I shall rejoice to go, and to hear the bell of the moose again in place of hideous motor horns.”

She looked at Joy, as she spoke, and there was a question in her eyes. Joy nodded.

“Yes, I will tell you why we go. My cousin Adrian has just asked me to marry him—”

“Indeed! But I am not surprised. The signs of the weather have been unmistakable for a little time. And of course he does not know of Dick Bracknell!”

“But he does! He has known all the time. He even stooped to use his knowledge so as to bring pressure upon me.”

“How shameful!”

[155]

“Yes! But that is of small moment. Don’t you see the significance of the fact that he had knowledge of my marriage? He was aware of it all the time, and as you know he made love to me. Even at North Star——”

“Yes! Yes! But you do not think that he fired the shot which——”

“I do not know what to think! I am going to find out. Of one thing I am sure, and that is that cousin Adrian is afraid of what Corporal Bracknell may discover. And Corporal Bracknell has disappeared. He may have learned much that I want to know, and something may have befallen him. He may even be dead, but if he is alive we must find him before Cousin Adrian does. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I think I do! You have grown afraid of what Mr. Rayner may do.”

“I do not trust him. I cannot after—” She broke off. “I am my own mistress now. There is no need that I should consult any one as to my comings and goings. We will go down to the steamship offices at once. We will not waste even a moment.”

An hour later they entered the office of a famous shipping company in Cockspur Street, and there inquired for a boat sailing for the Dominion.

“There is the Argonaut. She sails from Liverpool in three days. I believe there are vacancies.” The clerk turned away and presently came back with a list in his hand.

“The accommodation is limited, I find. There are only a couple of cabins-de-luxe——”

“We will take them!” said Joy promptly.

[156]

“Thank you! What names, Miss?”

The names were given, and within ten minutes the transaction was completed, and Joy left the office with the tickets in her handbag. Just as her car started a taxi approached from the opposite direction, almost collided with it, and it was only by a decidedly dangerous swerve that an accident was averted. The taxi-driver glanced round at his passenger as if expecting a rebuke, but to his relief the man was leaning far back in the corner as if anxious to avoid observation. The vehicle drew up at the shipping offices, and the passenger left the taxi and entered the offices. He was Adrian Rayner.

The clerk who had completed Joy’s business attended to him and listened to his request.

“Sorry, sir! The last two cabins on the Argonaut have just been taken. There isn’t a vacant berth in the ship.”

Rayner considered. He had not the slightest doubt that Joy Gargrave and her foster-sister had taken those cabins, for he had seen them leaving the offices. A dark frown came on his face, which the clerk misinterpreted for disappointment. An idea occurred to him.

“You are in a hurry, sir?” he inquired

“Yes,” answered Rayner shortly.

“Well, sir, if I may venture to suggest it to you, the Maple Leaf sails at six o’clock from Southampton. She is not a full boat, and if there is a train you might yet catch her.”

“Look at the time table, quick!” was the reply. The clerk obeyed. “There is a train in three quarters[157] of an hour, sir. It is a slow train, but it is due in Southampton five and twenty minutes before sailing time. You should be able to do it easily, sir.”

“Then I’ll book a cabin, please. As quick as you can. I’ve some luggage to pack.”

A few minutes later he left the office, and raced to his chambers, where he kept the taxi waiting whilst he packed a small portmanteau. Then he rang up Sir Joseph Rayner at the office. It was the head clerk’s voice that replied.

“No, Mr. Adrian, Sir Joseph is out. He will not return today. Any message, sir?”

“Yes. Let him know somehow that I’m going to America this evening. Tell him I will write, and—er—Benson—remember that this piece of news is strictly private.”

“Yes, Mr. Adrian.”

He hung up the receiver, lit a cigar, and five minutes after was on his way to Waterloo.

.......

“What are you going to do, Joy, when we land?” As she asked the question, Miss La Farge turned from contemplating the greyness of the winter seascape and looked at her foster-sister.

“I am going straight through to Regina to find out if anything has been heard of Roger Bracknell. If they have no news of him at the barracks, then we will go North and ourselves try and learn what has befallen him. He may have news for me, as I certainly have news for him.”

[158]

“Do you mean that we shall set out to search for him?”

“Just that, Babette. We know that he was going up the river, and I have a fancy he was following a trail which I myself noticed. You and I know the country well, and with the Indian George, we could look for him. At least we may learn something about him.”

“Yes,” replied Babette thoughtfully. “And if we find him, as you say, he may have news. You may learn what really happened to your hus——”

“Please! Please, Babette. Don’t call Dick Bracknell that. I can’t bear to think that I am bound to him at all.”

“No, and if he is dead, you are released! What do you really think, Joy?”

“I am in doubt. I have always been in doubt since that night. It was so strange that he should disappear. Sometimes I hope that——” She stopped, and after a pause continued, “It seems too dreadful a thing to say, but I cannot help feeling it. Dick Bracknell behaved shamefully to me. Apart from all that has happened since, I can never forgive the humiliation of my marriage. It is the simple truth that I should be glad to know that I was free, even if it were by Dick’s death. But I cannot feel that he is dead. Something tells me that he is alive. That we shall yet meet—”

“I devoutly hope not,” broke in Babette fervently, “for if we do I shall be tempted to—to—”

“To what?” asked Joy sharply.

“To shoot him myself,” answered the other grimly.

[159]

“Babette!”

“Oh, you need not look so shocked,” continued Babette. “You and............