"Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us
To see oursel's as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
And foolish notion."
They had not lost sight of the mother of Sinclair,--or Fellows, as we
must continue to call him,--since their first impulse was to acquaint
her with what they had heard.
Upon reflection, they felt it would be wiser to wait until, with the
fresh light which they hoped to receive as the result of the inquiries
set on foot, their mind was better made up as to the course they ought
to pursue.
*CHAPTER XX.*
*ON THE TRAIL.*
"Thou art a fellow of a good report,
Thy life hath had some snatch of honour in it."
_Julius Caesar_, Act V. sc. v.
Regina, which, prior to the advent of the Great Trunk Line of the
Canadian Pacific Railway, was possessed of but a few straggling
log-shanties--the rough dwellings of settlers and squatters, the early
pioneers in the great North-West of those civilising forces which are
marching with so much rapidity across the face of the American
Continent--is not only the principal town, but has the honour of being
the capital of the province and the seat of the legislature.
Yet, rejoicing in a population of not more than some two thousand, it is
making such rapid advances as bids fair to raise it, in a very little
while, to a position of importance and pre-eminence.
The mounted police have here their headquarters, and it was therefore in
the order of things official, as well as natural, that the inquiry set
on foot at Quebec should be forwarded to this little but important
centre for further elucidation.
To John Stone, or "Puffey," as the name by which he is best known, was
entrusted the task of obtaining the required information.
The work, although of an eminently peaceful character, was beset with no
ordinary difficulties, from the secrecy with which the information had
to be obtained.
Taking Nat Langham's Store on his route, he soon found himself in the
midst of a company of the roughest and lowest of the labouring-class
population of the district. Smoking, drinking, gambling, and betting,
were the usual order of proceedings; occasionally varied by a free
fight, in which the use of knives and firearms were not unknown.
Beyond a few brief glances from carelessly turned heads--the usual
greeting to a fresh-comer--but little notice was taken of his advent
into their midst. Calling for a liquor, and lighting his pipe, he joined
a group at one of the tables, where play was in progress, and soon
became an apparently interested spectator.