CHAPTER XXXIX.
A MESSAGE.
I think Mr. Burley would have preferred a private audience with thefactor, but he made no verbal objection to my presence. He looked ratherglum, however, as he came near and seated himself. He first took a pinchof snuff from an enameled box, and blew his nose vigorously; then,stretching his long legs under the table and resting an elbow on eacharm of the chair, he interlocked his lean fingers.
"If I remember rightly, Mr. Macdonald," he began, "you informed me thatyou had been a resident of this fort, in various capacities, for thespace of thirty-two years?"
"That is quite true, sir."
"And during that period--indeed for some years prior to it," continuedthe law clerk, "I understand that travelers stopping at Fort Garry ontheir way to the far north were in the habit of leaving their trunks andother luggage behind them here for safe keeping."
"Certainly--certainly! You have not been misinformed, Mr. Burley."
"And some of these travelers never came back--never returned to claimtheir belongings?"
"Alas! too many of them," replied Macdonald. He shook his head sadly ashe filled the bowl of his pipe. "You have stirred up a host of buriedand half-forgotten memories," he went on, in a reminiscent tone, puffingout clouds of smoke. "I recall dozens of poor fellows--hunters,trappers, and explorers--who set out with hopeful hearts to conquer theperils of the wilderness, and have not been heard of to this day. Theirtrunks and boxes are still in the fort--their bones are scattered in thesolitudes of the Great Lone Land. Of course a greater number turned upagain, and it is quite likely that some of the missing ones are alive.You see, their property may not have been worth sending for."
I began to see the drift of Mr. Barley's questioning.
"You knew these men?" he asked.
"Yes; at the time."
"And you have no recollection of Osmund Maiden? He would have been ayoung man of about twenty--handsome and spirited, well educated."
"I have told you before, sir," replied the factor, "that the name isstrange to me. I should probably recall him if he had passed through thefort, for I have a very keen memory."
"Twenty-nine years is a long time--long enough for much to slip themind," said Mr. Burley. "I have been in the Canadas for the better partof a year, sir, and I have made not the slightest advancement in thematter that brought me from England. It is strange that a man shouldvanish with leaving a clew behind him, and I will not confess that I ambeaten. My task, gentlemen, is to find Osmund Maiden alive, or todiscover clear proof of his death. And it occurred to me to-night thathe may have been one of those luckless travelers who passed through FortGarry to tempt fortune in the wilderness."
"It is not impossible," replied Macdonald. "I could not swear to thecontrary."
"It seems like enough," said I. "At that period few went to the farnorth except by way of Fort Garry."
Mr. Burley gave me a grateful glance, and regaled himself with a secondpinch of snuff.
"I will come to the point, Mr. Macdonald," he resumed. "These unclaimedtrunks and boxes--you say they are in the fort?"
"Yes; they are stored in an upper room of this very house--at least, thegreater part of them. All that were deposited here during the last fiveor six years are in another building."
Mr. Burley's relief and satisfaction were visible on his face.
"I presume that a record was kept of such deposits?" he asked.
"Yes, from the first," the factor answered. "It was done in abusiness-like way. Every man who left a trunk or a box here was given areceipt. Then his name was entered in a book and numbered, and hisnumber was marked on his property."
"And that book?"
"A new one was started a few years ago," replied Macdonald. "The firstone went to pieces with age, and had to be put aside."
"And what became of it?" the law clerk cried eagerly. "It was not lost?"
"Lost? Of course not, sir. I have it stored away in some place."
"Ah, that is fortunate! I beg you to produce it, Mr. Macdonald. It willbe very easy to ascertain if I am right or wrong. If Osmund Maidenpassed through Fort Garry, and left any luggage behind him, his namewill appear in the record."
"Quite true," assented the factor; "but I am sorry that I can't--"
He stopped suddenly, and put his head to one side.
"I fancy I heard a shout yonder--off by the gates," he added. "Did youhear anything, Carew?"
"No." I replied; "it must have been the wind."
Macdonald turned to the law clerk.
"I was about to remark," he continued, "that I can't put my hands on therecord-book to-night. But I will search for it to-morrow morning, andgive you the satisfaction of examining the entries."
"You are very kind, sir," replied Christopher Burley. "And I trust Ishall find----"
He was interrupted by a quick, imperative rap on the door.
"Come in!" cried Macdonald.
At the summons a clerk entered, holding a sealed envelope in his hand.
"From the settlement," he said. "Very urgent, sir! It came by messengera moment ago."
The factor silently opened the envelope, drew out a letter and glancedover it briefly. Then his deep-sunken eyes flashed with rage.
"The daring scoundrels!" he cried. "Listen! This is from Walker, myright-hand man in the colony," and in a hoarse voice he read aloud asfollows:
"I have just learned, through a trusted Indian spy, that some Northwest men captured a traveler twenty miles up the river this morning. The prisoner is said to be a Hudson Bay Company courier, bound for Fort Garry with important dispatches from the north. He is held on a trumped-up charge of some sort, and before daylight to-morrow he is to be hurried round the fort and the settlement and conveyed down the river to the Northwest Company's main post. His captors number seven, and to-night they are putting up at Lagarde's store. This is reliable, and I have kept it quiet so far. I wait your commands, and will execute them promptly."
Having finished, the factor crumpled the letter into a ball, and pouredsome whisky with a steady hand. I sprang to my feet, heated byexcitement and indignation. The three officers had been listening; theydropped their cards, and hastened across the room to us.
"Can this be true?" I cried.
"I believe it," said Macdonald. "It's bad news, and I only hope it won'tbe the spark to fire the blaze. But my duty is clear all the same, and Iintend to act promptly. Not through Walker and the colonists, though; wemust strike direct from the fort. Let me see; Lagarde's store is eightmiles from here--six north of the settlement. There is no time to lose,for it is past midnight. The messenger has not gone, Stirling?"
"No, sir; he is waiting," replied the clerk.
"Start him back at once," directed the factor. "Bid him tell Walker todo nothing in the matter--that I have taken it into my hands. And he isto be careful that not a word of the affair gets out. I don't wantanything known until it is all over. I can't trust the colonists; theyare too hot headed and reckless."
"Very good, sir."
"You may go. Be quick."
The clerk hurried off, and Macdonald turned to the officers.
"Lieutenant Boyd, I am going to put this mission into your hand," hesaid, "and I hope you understand its delicate nature. Take twenty menarmed and mounted. Follow the road that swings off to the left of thesettlement, and then ride straight on to Lagarde's; the night is dark,and the crust is in fine condition for horses. These are your orders:First make sure that the ruffians have a prisoner; then compel them todeliver him up. But let there be no fighting or bloodshed, if possible.Don't fire a shot unless you are fired on yourselves."
"I understand, sir," replied the officer. "I will do my best. Withyour permission I will take McKay and Nicoll"--pointing to hisfellow-officers. "And perhaps Mr. Carew would like to come?"
"With all my heart!" I exclaimed eagerly; for the adventure promised tobe to my taste.
A moment later, Macdonald, having added a few words of instruction, wewere out of the house and hastening toward the men's quarters.
The Cryptogram: A Story of Northwest Canada Page 39