"
"Do," said Barnes. "Good by." As he hung up the receiver he said to
himself, "You are a most affable, convincing chap, Mr. O'Dowd, but I
don't believe a word you say. That woman is no lady's maid, and you've
known all the time that she was there."
At four o'clock he set out alone for a tramp up the mountain road in
which the two men had been shot down. A number of men under the
direction of the sheriff were scouring the lofty timberland for the
deadly marksmen. He knew it would turn out to be as futile as the
proverbial effort to find the needle in the haystack.
His mind was quite clear on the subject. Roon and Paul were not
ordinary robbers. They were, no doubt, honest men. He would have said
that they were thieves bent on burglarising Green Fancy were it not
for the disclosures of Miss Thackeray and the very convincing proof
that they were not shot by the same man. Detected on the grounds about
Green Fancy by a watchman, they would have had an encounter with him
there and then. Moreover, they would have taken an active part in the
play of firearms. Desperadoes would not have succumbed so tamely.
It was not beyond reason,--indeed, it was quite probable,--that they
were trying to cross the border; in that event, their real operations
would be confined to the Canadian side of the line.
Pages:
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120