CHAPTER 12
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.”