The Lady of North Star

a hoarse voice, Rayner looked hastily and fearful

is the place where he lay. That is his blood in the snow

ead after all?" asked R

e taken my oath that there was no

inquired Rayner quickly. "Dead men do not

there are more footmarks here than there were when I came on Koona Dick lying in th

. "I should have thought that would have been

2

One might get separated from it, you know. Also I had already guessed that there was a homestead not very far away, and it seemed the

d you learn

han I e

s voice, and the corporal felt rather than saw that the other

were acquainted

to him in my life," r

ard of him. I saw you start whe

e true that I had heard of Koona Dick. I heard of him in my journey up, and what I heard was not to his credit. Y

e, had she only h

saw that Rayner's face was white and troubled. The light faded almost as suddenly as it flamed, and with that look in his mind the p

ecessary to obtain an answer to that question, I can onl

illing to confess, and the policeman wondered what it was, and what link there was between him

. Rayner. I do not know what relati

ted Rayner, "and my father

the avenue leading to North Star Lodge and began to follow it. I turned from the main road[27] into the wood on a fresh sled-trail which I imagined and still imagine was Koona Dick's. I had gone only a little way, when, as I have already told you, I heard two rifle shots and a woman's cry in quick succession to each other. I ran

ainly?" interrupted

e pla

you recogni

ne so," answered t

dee

was your cousin,

o discordant laughter. "You surely are not g

his ears it sounded forced, and the contemptuous

old you, Mr. Rayner, and to me it seems to b

t sportswoman, and had probably been[28] after game. Besides, as I told you, I think, there are timber wo

s running down the path which led to this spot. To my eyes she was plainly distraug

shot dead almost at her own door. Aren't you a little imaginative? Indeed," he laughed again, "having heard a rifle shot have you not imagined all the rest

rk stain on the snow, "and I haven't imagined any of the other things I hav

we discuss the point, is there? I do not understand police procedure, but if you have quite finishe

9] Bracknell quickly. "I shall have to wait

road when something light caught his moccasined foot. He looked down and discerned what looked like a piece of paper. Stooping quickly, he picked it up, and crushed it

b my cousin unnecessarily t

t all, Mr Rayner. There is

y other ti

in the room where they had dined. Then he tried to make light of the situation. "Corporal," he laughed, "the laws of hospitality are sacred in the North. Even though you feel you must drag us all

ighted, thank y

oured out the brandy, and whilst the officer was

?" asked Ra

to make her excuses for tonigh

g glance at the corporal. "We did not find th

range," said the

ndeed that I have tried to persuade the corporal

" asked Miss La Farge, with a qu

swered. "No, I have not, as yet

. "Corporal Bracknell has that British stubbornness which

replied, "That is a character

oor behind her, and Rayner rose from his chair

s a good compani

a, I suppose?" que

descent, partly native. Joy's mother died young, and Babette's br

ghtfully, and the other continued, "I do not

?" asked the corporal, with a

lied Rayner, wit

nference that he was me

ss years necessitated by her father's will are nearly over, and I am to take h

al; and as he did so, the beautiful face of Joy Gargrave, as he had seen it at table, rose before him, and somehow he found Rayner's suggestion of coming wedlock utterly distasteful. The man, as he fel

ngland, no doubt, is

ing to do with the mysterious affair out in the wood there. She may have heard the name of Koona Dick as I myself have, but that she knew him, that she shot

point certainly,"

urhood is nothing. I was in the neighbo

e. But there is no reason why I should shoot Koona Dick, a

was any reason why Joy or I shoul

in an area where crime is committed every

ef in his tones as he replied, "In that case there is no need why we should wor

s the corporal, who shook his

use me, I will go to my sleeping[33] quarters. I have ha

poral scarcely noticed it. The moment the door had closed behind Rayner, he thrust a hand into his tunic pocket and drew forth a crumpled piece of paper. It was t

himself, and very carefully smoothed the paper

dear

nger in the land of the living; at any rate I have not heard from you for a very long time, and

your invitation, but I must see you, and in an hour's time after your receipt of this I shall look for you in the little path that goes towards the hill. It is a lo

ck.

page torn out of a memorandum book, and the writer had evidently been about to sign his full name, and then had chan

whispered to himself. "She

the unfinished surname, and spelled out the letters carefully, "B-r-a." He repeated them to himself several times, tryin

inating letter in a place of safety, and prepared for bed. But it was long before he slept. From somewhere in the forest came the long-drawn howl of a wolf, an

ype="