Confession
After Hugo had left the cabin on the hillside in such an abrupt manner,
Marion stood for a few seconds greatly concerned over his strange
action. Then she hurried to the little window and tried to look out.
But the frost was so thick upon the small panes of glass that she
could see nothing. She listened intently, and in a few seconds heard
the jingle of bells mingled with the short sharp yelps of dogs. Her
father had spoken of the Police, but she had no idea that any members
of the Force were anywhere near. Could it be possible that the one for
whom she so earnestly longed had happened that way? Had he tracked her
father to the little cabin? If so, what should she do? Would it be
right for her to tell the sergeant that he had just left her?
Marion had little time, however, to think of such things, for soon the
door was pushed open and Sergeant North looked cautiously in. In his
right hand he held a revolver as if expecting opposition. As he stood
waiting for the owner of the cabin to approach, Marion stepped from the
window and confronted him. So great was the sergeant’s surprise that he
moved quickly back as if he had beheld a ghost. Then seeing who it was,
he thrust his weapon into its holster, and springing forward, caught
Marion in his arms. Their lips met and for a few heart-beats neither
spoke.
“My! this is a surprise,” North exclaimed as he drew back his head and
looked into her beaming eyes. “I was expecting something altogether
different from this.”
“You were looking for trouble, from all appearances,” Marion laughingly
replied. “I’m glad you have put that nasty thing away. I don’t like it.”
“I was looking for trouble,” North confessed, “although, for once I’m
glad I didn’t find it.”
“But perhaps you have found it,” Marion bantered. “You have found me,
and I’m certain that I’m going to be the greatest trouble of all.”
“I’ll like you all the better, then,” and again North kissed her. “You
cannot frighten me that way, remember. Facing trouble has been my lot
for years, and I’ve not had too much of it yet.”
“But this is a different kind, John. You are thinking only about men.
Just wait and see what trouble one woman can make.”
“Oh, I’m not worrying about that, darling,” the sergeant assured her
with a hearty laugh. “It will be a change, anyway.”
Rolfe’s voice outside speaking sharply to the dogs brought a serious
expression to North’s face. Love for the moment had interfered with
duty, and that was contrary to the strict code to which he was bound.
“Where is the man who owns this cabin?” he suddenly asked.
“I do not know,” Marion truthfully replied.
“But he was here a short time ago, was he not?”
“Yes.”
“And he brought you here?”
“He did. But for him I do not know what I should have done. Tell me,
have you seen Zell?”
“Zell! Zell who?”
“The half-breed girl who was travelling with me. We were camping by the
side of the trail, and after the wolves had been shot, she went for
some wood. But she never came back, and I am afraid she is either lost
or something has carried her off.”
“And did those wolves now lying dead down there attack you?” North
asked in surprise.
“They did. Oh, it was terrible!”
“Who shot them?”
“Hugo, the trapper. The wolves surrounded us, coming closer and closer
all the time, and when they were about to spring upon us, some one
began shooting at them. We could not see who it was, although I know
now that it was the trapper. He carried me part way here.”
“He did!” There was a peculiar expression in the sergeant’s eyes as he
kept them fixed upon Marion’s face.
“So it was Hugo,” he mused. “It’s too bad I wasn’t on hand sooner.”
“Why, what would you have done, John?” Marion asked.
“Rescued you, of course.”
“Anything else?”
“And captured Hugo.”
“Why?”
“I want him. He’s the man I’m after, and I shall never give up until I
get him.”
“Why are you chasing him? What has he done?”
“That’s what I want to find out. He is needed in connection with that
murder near the C. D. Cut-Off.”
“I don’t believe he did that,” Marion defended. “He may be rough, but
he would never do such a terrible thing.”
“Why has he acted in such a strange manner, then? Why didn’t he report
the murder when he brought the child to the hospital? And why is he now
running away?”
“Hasn’t he been keeping away from the Police for years, long before
that murder was committed? I often heard at Kynox that he dreaded the
sight of a member of the Force. Haven’t you been after him for a long
time?”
“Why, no,” the sergeant denied. “We had no orders to capture him. We
always looked upon him as a strange man, rough, and terrible in a
fight, but otherwise perfectly harmless.”
“You have orders to capture him now, though?”
“In a way I have. He may be innocent, but he must tell what he knows
about that murder.”
“And you intend to follow him?”
“I certainly do. But we cannot go just now, for the dogs are about
played out. We travelled hard all last night, without rest or food. But
here comes Tom. He’s almost starved, and so am I.”
The constable was surprised and pleased to see Marion. He was very
tired, and the presence of this woman gave a touch of home life to
the cabin. Marion insisted upon preparing breakfast with some of the
provisions the men had brought with them. There was no table in the
room, so North and Rolfe squatted upon the floor, each holding his tin
plate on his lap which Marion had filled with hot canned pork and beans.
“There is not much style about this,” she laughingly remarked.
“Style!” the constable exclaimed. “To have a woman serve us is all the
style I want. Why, I’ve been cooking for months, and am heartily sick
of it. I would give almost anything to be back in my own home, to see
my mother working around the kitchen, and to hear her say, ‘Tom, will
you have another piece of pie?’ I never fully appreciated her and her
cooking until I came to this canned-food country.”
Both Marion and the sergeant laughed heartily at the doleful expression
upon Rolfe’s face.
“Tom never wearies of telling about his mother’s wonderful cooking,”
the sergeant explained. “I wish to goodness he had taken a few lessons
from her before he left home.”
“You eat all I cook, though,” the constable retorted.
“I have to or starve. You won’t let me do any cooking, although I am in
command.”
“Self-preservation is a strong feature in my make-up, Miss Brisbane.
The sergeant is teachable for all that, so with little tact you may be
able to train him properly.”
There was a fine spirit of comradeship between these two men, who
spent so much time together on the long trails. They knew each other
thoroughly, and their light banter was merely an offset to the
difficulty and seriousness of their tasks. The commanding officer who
had sent them forth together had made no mistake in his knowledge of
men. Rolfe’s bright and buoyant disposition was an excellent balance to
North’s stern and somewhat taciturn nature.
When breakfast was over, Rolfe insisted upon washing the few dishes. He
then spread out his blankets in one corner of the room, and stretched
out his tired body. Marion and North sat near the stove side by side.
For a while they were silent, rejoicing in each other’s presence, for
silence is often more eloquent than many words. When at length Rolfe’s
heavy breathing told them that he was asleep, North reached out, took
Marion’s right hand in his, and pressed it firmly.
“It is great to be here so near you,” he began. “You have been so much
in my mind, and I was wondering how you were making out at Big Chance.
Never for an instant did I picture you away out here. Tell me all about
it.”
“There really isn’t much to tell other than what you already know,”
Marion replied. “I am so worried about that poor girl. I am sure that
something has happened to her. And she was so anxious about her injured
lover, Tim, and wanted to get to the missionary at The Gap for help as
fast as possible.”
“And so you came with her for company? Is that it?”
“Oh, no,” Marion replied in a low voice. “I heard something at Big
Chance which worried me, so I came along hoping to find you and to warn
you.”
“To warn me!” North exclaimed in surprise. “What for?”
“Yes, to warn you against danger. I heard something about Bill, the
Slugger. From what Zell told me, I fear that he intends to do you some
harm. At first the girl hesitated about telling me anything. She was
terribly afraid of Bill, and begged me not to say a word to you lest he
should kill her.”
The sergeant was all attention now, eager to hear more. He believed
that the half-breed girl knew something which was most important for
him to know.
“Did she say anything about that murder near the C. D. Cut-Off?” he
questioned.
“Not directly. But when I asked her if Bill did it, she gave a start,
and glanced anxiously toward the door. ‘I don’t dare to tell,’ she
said. ‘Bill would kill me if I did.’”
“Ah!” The sergeant was looking straight before him, and his eyes were
merely two narrow slits. He was thinking rapidly, comprehending things
which he had never suspected.
“What else did the girl say?” he presently asked.
“She begged me not to tell you for fear of what Bill might do. She
said he was getting ready for a trip, and was almost frightened out of
his wits while you were at Big Chance. Zell, it seems, was secretly
watching him.”
“Had she any idea where he was going?”
“Yes. She was certain that he was planning to leave the country by way
of The Gap, and cross the mountains.”
“I see, I see,” North mused. “Yes, a most likely thing for him to do.
My, this is important news to me, you have helped me wonderfully.”
“And you will follow him?” There was a quiver in Marion’s voice. “Oh,
do be careful! Zell said that Bill was such a bad man that he would
stop at nothing, and would even shoot a member of the Force if he
opposed him.”
“And so you started out to warn me, eh?” North queried. “Did you
realise the risks you were running? Did you stop to think what a trip
to The Gap would mean at this time of the year? Why, it almost unnerves
me to think of what might have happened to you. It is mighty lucky that
you have come off so well.”
“I am afraid that I didn’t think much about the risk, but acted merely
upon the impulse of the moment when I agreed to come with Zell.”
“And so you did all this for my sake?” North asked, pressing Marion’s
hand a little firmer. “I am sure that no one else in the world would do
such a thing for me.”
“Love nerves the most timid, John, and transforms weakness into
strength. But I have a confession to make now which no doubt will
surprise you.”
“Make all the confession you like, little one,” was the quiet reply.
“What confession can you make that will interfere with our great love?”
“I hope it won’t, anyway,” and Marion gave a deep sigh. North noted
this and looked somewhat anxiously into her face.
“Is it as serious as all that?” he asked. “Is it troubling you much?”
“It is, and has been worrying me for days. How would you like to be
told that you do not share all my love?”
“Why, Marion, what do you mean?” North demanded. “Or are you only
joking?”
“No, I am not. I am deadly in earnest. I came out here not only for
your sake but for the sake of another man as well.”
“You did!” It was all that North could say as he dropped Marion’s hand
and stared at her in amazement. “For God’s sake, who is it? Tell me
quick.”
“It is the man who brought me to this cabin.”
“What! Hugo, the trapper?”
“Yes, he is the man. I came to warn you not only against Bill, the
Slugger, but to keep you and the trapper from harming each other. I did
it because I love you both.”
“Marion! Marion! What do you mean?” North demanded, rising to his feet
in his agitation. “You love Hugo, the trapper, you say?”
“I do, and I have a right to because he is my father.”
At this confession, made in a low voice, North’s tense body relaxed.
His eyes brightened, and a smile illumined his face. Sitting down again
by Marion’s side, he tenderly placed his arm about her and drew her
close.
“So that was your trouble, darling, was it?” he asked. “Well, now that
your confession is made, don’t worry any more. It is startling, I
admit, and I know you will explain everything to me. I am so glad it
was your father and not somebody else.”
“Oh, I feel so relieved,” Marion replied, letting her head rest against
her lover’s shoulder. There were tears in her eyes, and her body was
trembling slightly. “I know it won’t make any difference to you in
carrying out your orders, but it will help us to work together, will it
not?”
“Indeed it will,” was the emphatic reply. “Knowing what I do now about
Bill, the Slugger, and also who Hugo is, certain difficulties have been
removed. I see quite a clear trail ahead of me, thanks to your love and
help.”