CHARGES AND COUNTER-CHARGES.
“Mr. Frazer,” ordered Factor MacClaren, “put down that gun. Dick, what’s
the meaning of this?”
Before Dick had time to reply, Sandy’s head uprose behind the counter,
twisted around and presented a blood-stained face to his uncle. At sight
of it, Mr. MacClaren started back in dismay.
“Good Heavens, Sandy—you too! What have you boys been up to?” He whirled
toward Frazer again. “Put down that gun, I told you. Put it down! Mr.
Frazer, Dick, Sandy, I demand an explanation. Are you all mad?”
“If you want the truth, they attacked me first.” Frazer had grown more
calm now. “Your own nephew grabbed me by the throat and I knocked him
down. These other two miscreants were coming toward me just as you ran
in. I picked up the revolver as a last resort. I have a right to defend
myself.”
Mr. Walter MacClaren sat down in a chair, produced a handkerchief and
feverishly mopped his brow. Sandy clambered over the counter and
advanced toward him. Dick was still trembling and fighting mad. Toma’s
lips were drawn tightly across his teeth. There was still an atmosphere
of tension in the room. Sandy’s voice broke the quiet.
“Uncle Walter, that man is no better than a murderer. He sent us up Half
Way River on a fool’s errand, then hired a couple of his confederates to
track us down and try to kill us.”
Mr. MacClaren stared at his nephew incredulously. It was his Scottish
caution that moved him to exclaim.
“Careful, Sandy. Careful, Sandy, my boy. Those are hard words. A
murderer, you say. Are you prepared to back up your statements?”
“I am,” spat Sandy.
“Mr. MacClaren, he lies.” It was Frazer’s voice. “There is no truth in
what he says. The boys are laboring under a delusion. If they’ve been
attacked while away on their trip, it was not through any of my
conniving. I have nothing whatever to do with Wolf Brennan and Toby
McCallum. Those men are not in my employ, as these three young men seem
to believe.”
“They have been in your employ, haven’t they?” MacClaren asked drily.
“Indeed, they have not,” protested Frazer.
“If that is true, how do you account for the three entries in your own
ledger under the date of March third, seventh and fifteenth? According
to your own books, you paid McCallum and Brennan for work done here at
the post.”
“Yes, I’ll admit that but—” Frazer paused slightly confused.
“They have been in your employ then?” Mr. MacClaren persisted.
“Little tasks about the post here,” the other retorted. “Does it
necessarily follow that they are in my employ regularly?”
“No, it doesn’t. But it does give us a line on the type of men you do
employ.”
“You’re prejudiced,” flamed Frazer.
“Not at all. If these boys are wrong, I shall insist that they
apologize. But it hasn’t been proved that they are wrong yet. Sandy, go
on with your story.”
During its recital, Mr. MacClaren’s eyes narrowed. He turned again upon
the factor.
“You must have known, Mr. Frazer, that the boys could never bring back
the bones of that dinosaur. Isn’t that true?”
“No, it isn’t. I never saw the dinosaur. I had no idea that it was so
large.”
“Look here,” protested Dick, “I can bring witnesses here to prove that
you visited the dinosaur’s island two years ago.”
Sandy’s uncle ignored the sally. He asked the post manager another
question.
“You promised the boys six hundred dollars if they would bring the bones
of the dinosaur back here to Half Way House. Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“As I understand it, the bones of the dinosaur were to be sold to a
famous London Museum. Is that also correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You have a letter from that museum making a certain offer.”
“Yes, Mr. MacClaren, I have.”
“May I see it?”
“You could see it if I had any desire to show it to you, but I haven’t.
I consider it none of your business.”
Mr. MacClaren smiled grimly at this affront.
“Very well. That may not be my business, but what you do here as a
factor of a Hudson’s Bay Company’s post is my business. Does your
contract permit you to engage in any enterprise not connected with that
of the company?”
“On my own time, yes.”
“You’d better re-read your contract.”
“I’ve already done that,” sneered the other.
“When I came over here today,” Mr. MacClaren’s voice was deathly calm,
“an audit of your books showed that you had robbed the company of over
two thousand dollars. I suppose you had a perfect right to do that under
the terms of your contract?”
“I object to that word ‘robbed’,” rasped Frazer. “I’ll admit to a
shortage but I’ve covered it.”
“Yes, when I drew your attention to it.”
“I paid back every cent of it in gold.”
“Where did you get the gold?” sneered Mr. MacClaren. “How did you come
in possession of it? There’s another point that may need a little
explaining.”
“You know as well as I do that we take gold over the counter in exchange
for goods.”
“Correct. But whenever we do we keep a record of the transaction. In
auditing your books, I found no such record.”
“The more you talk the farther you get away from the subject under
discussion. You asked me what was wrong here and I told you. Your own
nephew assaulted me without cause. Not only that, but he made a very
serious charge against me, a charge without any foundation whatsoever.”
“Whose word can I take for that?” inquired Mr. MacClaren sarcastically
and angrily.
“Mine.”
“But I do not consider that your word is sufficient. You’ve lied to me
repeatedly. You lied to me this afternoon. Your conduct generally is so
deceitful and dishonest that I think I was perfectly justified in asking
for your resignation.”
“By doing that you haven’t hurt my feelings in the least. For some time
past, I have been seriously thinking of quitting the service anyway. In
fact, not long ago I completed arrangements to take charge of an
independent trading post shortly to be established at Caribou Lake.”
At the mention of the name, Caribou Lake, Dick pricked up his ears. That
was the name of the place Corporal Rand was proceeding to.
“It is your privilege to go anywhere you like,” Dick heard Mr. MacClaren
say.
Sandy looked across at Frazer, a peculiar gleam in his eyes. At that
moment he presented a most unusual appearance. His bruised lips had
swollen to twice their normal size. His cheeks were smeared with blood.
“If you’ll permit me to say so,” he blurted forth, “I’d like to prophesy
that you’ll not take charge at Caribou Lake either. I propose to swear
out a warrant for your arrest.”
Frazer’s face grew a shade whiter, but he recovered himself quickly.
“Two can play at the same game,” he reminded Sandy.
“My charge is a more serious one.”
“What is your charge?”
“Attempted murder.”
The man behind the counter laughed a mirthless laugh and made an ugly
grimace.
“You may have a lot of trouble proving that.”
“I expect to,” said Sandy calmly, “but we’ll get you in the end. Please
don’t forget that. This matter isn’t settled by a long way.”
Mr. MacClaren rose hastily to his feet.
“Enough,” he said. “Argument will get us nowhere. Mr. Frazer will be
leaving us tonight and after his departure we’ll have plenty of time to
discuss your case.”
The factor darted from behind the counter and strode over to where Mr.
MacClaren stood.
“I didn’t say I was going tonight,” he snarled, his face close to that
of his superior.
“No, but I’m saying it. In fact, I insist upon it.”
“You’re exceeding your authority. You have no right to compel me to go.”
“Nevertheless, that is my intention.”
“I refuse to go.”
Coming from a mysterious place, a revolver leaped into MacClaren’s
hands. Dick was astounded. He had never suspected that Sandy’s uncle
could draw a gun so quickly. Its cold nozzle sprang forward pressing
against the front of Frazer’s coat.
“We won’t argue the matter,” he declared pleasantly. “I’ll accompany you
to your room while you pack your things. After that I’ll arrange for a
transport. Much as we may dislike to part with your company, Mr. Frazer,
I think it is for the good of all concerned. Turn and march to your
room.”
Frazer complied hurriedly, his features swollen with rage. The two
figures passed through the inner doorway, their footsteps echoed down
the long corridor and, presently, in the trading room a deep silence
reigned.
Mopping the blood from his face with a handkerchief which Dick
moistened, Sandy was soon more presentable.
“That was a mighty wallop he gave me,” half grinned the injured one.
“Still, I suppose that it was coming to me. Shouldn’t have lost my
temper.”
“It’s probably just as well that things have turned out as they have,”
Dick reassured him.