MISSING
“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!”
“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.
“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 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.”
“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.
“Babette!”
“Oh, you need not look so shocked,” continued Babette. “You and I have
lived in the North, and we know that justice does not always follow
the forms of law. And what is it that man Kipling says, ‘There’s
never a Law of God or man runs North of fifty-three.’ We’re North of
fifty-three at North Star, and a law unto ourselves. If Dick Bracknell
is still alive, and came worrying you, I think that I could--”
“Babette, you must not say it.”
“Very well, I will not. But all the same I feel that I could, for the
man is worthless, mere vermin like the wolves in the North. And that
woman Lady Alcombe, of whom you told me--”
“She is dead! I learned that in England. She was killed in a motor
accident.”
“It was too merciful an end for her!” said Babette quickly. “She ought
to have lived to feel remorse gnawing at her heart day by day and hour
by hour--”
“Lady Alcombe was not the kind of woman to suffer that way,” said Joy
slowly. “She had no heart.... But here comes the rain. We shall have to
go below.”
* * * * *
Nine days later Joy Gargrave walked across the snow to the headquarters
of the Mounted Police at Regina, and asked, to see the Commissioner.
He, as it appeared, was absent, and the only official immediately
available was an inspector, a pleasant soldier-like man in the early
thirties. To him she addressed her question.
“Can you tell me anything as to the whereabouts of Corporal Bracknell?”
The inspector looked up from her card, and flashed a keen glance at
her, then shook his head.
“I am sorry, Miss Gargrave. We should be glad of news of Bracknell
ourselves. He went on a journey several weeks ago, and a patrol that
has come through the district where he was likely to be has heard
nothing of him, though a sled was found which was unquestionably his.
There were the bones of dogs also, so that things look rather black.
The timber-wolves may have got him. Reports from two or three districts
state they have been very savage this winter.”
Joy’s face went white, but she kept herself in hand.
“Still I suppose there is a possibility that he may have escaped?”
“A bare possibility,” answered the inspector in a voice that betrayed
he had little hope. Then he asked suddenly, “I wonder why you wish to
find him, Miss Gargrave?”
Joy flushed at the question which to her seemed to border on
impertinence.
“It is a private matter,” she answered shortly.
“Please do not be offended, Miss Gargrave. I had a reason for asking.
You are the second person to make inquiry about Corporal Bracknell this
week.”
“Indeed?” said Joy, growing suddenly alert.
“Yes, a gentleman came here with the same question four days ago.”
“Did you see him? Would you mind telling me what he was like?”
The inspector laughed. “There is no reason why I should not, as it is
not a police matter. I can do better than give you his description. I
can give you his name, for I have his card somewhere.” He fumbled among
some papers on the desk, and in a moment found what he sought. “Here it
is! Adrian Rayner, Albany Chambers, London.”
“Adrian Rayner!”
As Joy echoed the name, the inspector glanced at her keenly. “You knew
him?”
“Yes,” she replied slowly. “He is my cousin--”
“Indeed!” said the officer politely, and then added, “Mr. Rayner was
anxious to learn where Corporal Bracknell was, but on learning that
Bracknell was missing, he did not seem greatly perturbed. I gathered
that Mr. Rayner was a lawyer and that it was on legal business that he
wished to see Bracknell.”
To Joy it seemed as if the inspector was openly fishing for
information, and for one brief moment she hesitated. Should she take
him into her confidence, and tell him all? She was strongly tempted to
do so, but in the end decided against it.
“Yes,” she said, rising from her chair, “he is a lawyer, and as
Corporal Bracknell’s cousin has been killed in England, it is possible
that legal business had brought him here. I am greatly obliged to you,
Inspector Graham.” She paused, and then added, “I have a little request
to make. If you receive any news of Corporal Bracknell will you send
it to me at North Star?”
“Yes,” answered the inspector. “But I am afraid you will be some time
in receiving it.” He smiled. “As you know, it is something more than a
crow’s flight from here to your home.”
“I was thinking of a special courier,” said Joy quickly. “There will be
men to be found, and the expense is nothing to me.”
“Very well,” answered the inspector, “I will see that you get whatever
news reaches us at the earliest moment! We of the force are too much
indebted to your late father and yourself to refuse a trifling request
of that kind. There is nothing else that I can do for you, Miss
Gargrave?”
Again Joy hesitated. Should she tell him what she thought was the real
object of Adrian Rayner’s journey? Sitting there in that quiet room,
she suddenly felt that her suspicions would sound ridiculous if put
into words. After all, she had so very little to go upon.
“Thank you! There is nothing.”
A moment later, Inspector Graham stood at his window watching her cross
the snow. He smiled a little to himself.
“Um!” he muttered, “if Bracknell is still alive he is in the way of
being a lucky fellow.”
Ten minutes later Joy found Miss La Farge in their room at the hotel.
“Babette,” she said, “we shall have to hurry. Adrian Rayner is already
here. He is four days ahead of us. We must leave Regina within an
hour.”
“Yes,” answered her foster-sister, “as Mr. Rayner is evidently in a
hurry, we must hurry also. Is there any news of Corporal Bracknell?”
“None, except that his sled has been found.”
“Ah! That is bad, very bad!”
“You must not think that, Babette,” cried Joy a little wildly. “We must
search. I will not give up hope. I will find him.”
Her voice quivered and broke, and suddenly she buried her face in her
hands. Miss La Farge looked at her for a moment with eyes brimming
with sympathy. Then she took a step forward and placed her hand on her
foster-sister’s shoulder.
“Joy, my dear, what is the corporal to you?”
“To me,” Joy looked up with confusion in her bearing. “How can he be
anything to me? How can any man----”
“Yet if we do not find him, it will be very bitter?”
“As bitter as death!” answered Joy, hiding her face once more.
“Then we must certainly find him,” answered Miss La Farge gravely. “And
by way of a start, I will talk to the clerk about trains.”
She turned and passed from the room, leaving her foster-sister in
tears. After a little time Joy looked up. An absent gaze came in her
tear-stained eyes.
“If I only knew!” she whispered to herself, “if I only knew!”