CHAPTER XX
FOUL PLAY
"Now, as you're here, Kiddie, an' we're all so comfortable, an' sointerested in all you've got ter tell us 'bout this yer campin' trip,what d'yer say ter stoppin' the night along of us?"
Kiddie looked across at Gideon Birkenshaw.
"Dunno, Gid," he answered lightly. "Only I was hankerin' to go downan' have a look at the cabin."
"Cabin's all right," objected Gideon. "Cabin won't run away. What'sthe good of goin' down thar, a cold dark night like this? Better byfar wait till mornin', an' see it by daylight. Rooms haven't bindusted, beds haven't bin aired, fires ain't lighted. Supper 'll beready soon, an', say, thar's a great pile o' letters lyin' waitin' foryou on the window ledge back of you."
Kiddie turned and glanced at the formidable pile, but he did not moveto open any of the letters.
"Oh, all right, Gid," he said, flinging a leg over the arm of theeasy-chair in which he was sitting. "I'll stay. Of course I'll stay."
He had brought the canoe ashore in the creek at Grizzly Notch, insteadof at his own landing-place nearer the cabin. Rube's injured leg wasstill painful, and he had to be helped up the steep trail toBirkenshaw's camp. So Kiddie had not yet visited his wood-land retreat.
There was a large party of them at supper. In addition to Abe Harum,Tom Lippincott and Jake Paterson, Sheriff Blagg had dropped in on hisway home down the trail from Three Crossings, where he had been to lookat a bunch of horses. During the meal Kiddie was very quiet. It wasRube Carter who did most of the talking, and who told them of thebattle of Poison Spider Creek and of Kiddie's election as chief of theCrows.
"I ain't any surprised at Kiddie's refusin' ter take on the chiefbusiness," commented Gideon.
"Not but what he'd make a tip-top Injun chief," added Isa Blagg. "ButI'm figurin' as the time's gone by for a lay-out of that sort. Tharain't liable t' be any more Injun wars an' mutinies, an' thar's no needfer another Sitting Bull. Buffalo huntin's played out, too. Buffaloesare 'most all killed off. All that's left for the Redskin is to turnhis mind to agriculture, an' thar's heaps of men c'n teach 'emhusbandry better'n Kiddie could."
"That's so, Isa; that's so," agreed Kiddie.
"Say, Sheriff," interposed Rube; "have you gotten any news ter tell usabout that Sanson T. Wrangler business that brought you t' our camp t'get Kiddie's advice?"
"No." The sheriff shook his head. "No, it all turned out just asKiddie said, in every particular."
"And Nick Undrell had nothin' whatever to do with it?" questionedKiddie.
"No, Nick was innercent that time," returned Isa. "Nick's been keepin'on the straight trail since that occasion when you'd a talk with him,I'm told, however, that he's broken out again--gamblin', drinkin', an'cavortin' around with the old gang."
"Which reminds me," said Abe Harum. "Nick Undrell's bin seen prowlin'around this yer camp a good deal lately--since you've bin away on yourtrip, Kiddie. I'm kind o' suspicious that he ain't spying around forno good. Seems he's bin making friends with that big dog, too."
"With Sheila?" Kiddie started upright in his seat. "By the way, whereis she? I haven't seen or heard her since we came back. I wonder shehasn't discovered that we're here. Where is she?"
"Oh, the hound's all right," Abe Harum assured him. "Guess she'sasleep in her kennel. Pass that tobacco jar, Rube."
Kiddie had a profound faith in his deerhound's sagacity, and he wasmore than a little disappointed that she had not yet discovered hispresence in the camp.
He did not again refer to her absence that night, assuming that thehound could hardly have scented him passing in the canoe, or heard himlanding so far away from the cabin as Grizzly Notch. But when he wentto bed he began to wonder anew. He stood at the open window,listening, hoping to hear her bark. Hearing no sound but thewhispering of the wind in the trees, he got his feet on a chair andleant out. He whistled, a long shrill whistle.
Rube Carter was already asleep in the same room. The whistle awoke him.
"What you whistlin' that way for?" Rube asked in alarm. "Shanty ain'tafire, is it?"
"I'm whistling for Sheila," Kiddie told him. "Lie quiet while I listenif she answers."
"She won't hear you all this way off," said Rube. "Wind's against you."
"So it is," laughed Kiddie, stepping down from the chair. "Never mind!I shall see her in the morning. Sorry I disturbed you. Good night."
During their camping trip Kiddie and Rube had accustomed themselves toearly rising, and on the following morning they were out and aboutbefore the rest of the household.
Kiddie looked at some of his letters, and then took his towel and wentdown to the creek for his morning swim, leaving Rube to help to get thebreakfast ready. Kiddie returned looking astonishingly fresh and clean.
At the end of the meal he sat very silent, watching his companionstaking out their pipes. He seemed to be particularly interested in AbeHarum, who was feeling in one pocket after another.
"Lost your pipe, Abe?" Kiddie inquired, thrusting a hand into his ownside pocket.
"No," Abe answered. "I got it in my hand. I was feelin' for mymatches."
"Oh, then," returned Kiddie, withdrawing his hand and producing abriar, "this ain't yours that I found?"
Abe looked at the pipe and shook his head.
"That ain't mine," he said. "Where'd you pick it up, Kiddie?"
"In the spare canoe, when I went down to have a bathe. I supposedyou'd left it there."
"Ain't used that canoe since you've bin away," said Abe. "Nobody'sused it, only Isa, when he went out on the lake t' look for you thattime. Mebbe it's Isa's."
But the sheriff also shook his head.
"'Tain't mine," he said, glancing at the pipe, which Kiddie had pushedalong the table.
Rube Carter took hold of it and began to clear the stale tobacco out ofthe bowl with the point of his pocket knife.
Kiddie watched Abe Harum striking a match. It was a safety, with abrown head.
"What sort of lucifers are yours, Isa?" Kiddie inquired.
Isa Blagg handed him his box, which was partly open, showing about adozen matches with pink heads.
"Ah," Kiddie nodded. "Where'd you get 'em?"
"Bought 'em in Brierley's saloon in Laramie," said Isa. "Why?"
"Nothing," replied Kiddie, "only they're the same sort as a broken oneI found in the canoe. Chap as left that pipe must have tried to lightit in a high wind. There was quite half a dozen dead lucifers lyin'around."
"An' it don't appear as he lighted his pipe after all," added RubeCarter. "It's as dry as a bone, just as if it hadn't been smoked formonths and months."
Abe Harum leant over and took a pinch of the tobacco ashes, smelling it.
"Thick twist," he said, "strong enough to pull your head off."
Kiddie had taken three dead matches from his pocket and laid them onthe edge of the table in front of Rube.
"See anythin' peculiar 'bout those lucifers, Rube?" he asked.
"Guess I see the same as you do, Kiddie," was Rube's reply. "They'redirty, an' the charcoal's wore off their tips. Looks as if they'd beencarried in some chap's pocket."
Kiddie stood up.
"Now let's get along t' the cabin," he said. "Will you come, Sheriff?"
Isa and Rube both accompanied him. They went down to Grizzly Notch,where the still loaded canoe had been left overnight. While Rube wasloosening the painter, Kiddie went aside to the spare canoe, andsearched about on the bank. Presently he stood still, and called Rubeto his side.
"Take stock of that footprint," he began, pointing to the moist ground."Horseshoe heel, a toecap, an' two rows of hob-nails; one nail missin'.D'ye know anythin'?"
Rube shook his head.
"None of our men wears boots like that," he declared. "But I've a ideaI've seen the same impression before--somewhere. Lemme think."
Later, when the three of them were landing at the little pier, close toKiddie's cabin, Rube said qui
etly--
"I remember now, Kiddie, 'bout that footprint--or the boot that madeit. Nick Undrell wears boots nailed an' clamped like that. An' didn'tAbe tell us as Nick had bin seen prowlin' round here? Guess it wasNick's pipe you found in the canoe. What you whistlin' for?"
"The dog," returned Kiddie. "I want to see Sheila. Go an' fetch her,Rube."
As Kiddie reached the cabin, he saw that the door was not locked. Itwas an inch or two ajar. He pushed it open farther, and strode within.He sniffed. There was a smell of tobacco smoke in the air. Theliving-room was in confusion, the furniture out of place. He ran intothe farther room. Here the confusion was greater. A window-pane wasbroken, and the window itself was open.
For the next few minutes he went about opening cupboards and drawers.Then he heard footsteps on the veranda, and he went back to the frontdoor.
"Don't come in, Isa! Stay where you are, Rube," he cried. "I've beenrobbed! Some one's broken in and gone off with all my jewellery, mygold watch, my best revolvers, my cash-box with hundreds of pounds init. Where's the hound, Rube? Haven't you brought her? Didn't youfind her?"
"I--I found her, Kiddie," Rube stammered, "but I couldn't bring her.She's dead! Shot dead."