"Unfortunately not. They hung in the lock of the cash compartment.

Burton, whoever took that money used those keys!"

The young man looked at his employer as though his eyes would pierce him through. "Gardiner," he said, in a hard, cold voice that seemed to be coming from the depths of some terrible emotion, "do you accuse me of this?"

It was the first time he had ever omitted the mister in addressing his employer. He was speaking now as man to man.

"No," said Gardiner. "I accuse you of nothing. Even if I had the positive evidence before my eyes I could not believe you guilty. But the situation is baffling, and I am afraid-I am afraid suspicion will be directed toward you. Let me give you the facts as I have found them and as I, of course, will be obliged to report them to the police. When I came down to the store this morning my first thought was for that package. I came at once to the safe. Before it were lying a number of half-burnt matches. This aroused my fears, and I tried the door. It was locked. I operated the combination, and it opened. Inside, this bunch of keys hung in the lock, but the cash drawer was locked. I turned the key and opened it. The package was gone. Nothing else was disturbed, but another burnt match lay in the cash box. Whoever opened that safe knew the combination. Whoever opened that safe had the key of the cash drawer. Burton, you and I are the only men in G.o.d's world who know that combination and have the keys."

Burton listened to this recital with growing dismay. If he had deliberately set about to put his feet in a trap he did not see how he could have done it more effectively. He realised the great weight of circ.u.mstantial evidence that was piling up against him, and in his heart he felt that Gardiner was not to be blamed for his suspicions. The incident of the smashing beer bottle again flew through his memory, recalling also his fancy that he heard a stealthy step, but what would such trifling and unsupported tales as these avail?

"At least I can explain about the keys," he said at last. "I came into the store as I was going home last night about midnight, and I opened the safe--"

"You admit you were in the safe last night!" shouted Gardiner, in a pa.s.sion of excitement.

"No, I do not admit it; I declare it. If you are determined to condemn me unheard, on the strength of evidence which is at best only circ.u.mstantial, I have nothing more to say. I suppose it is unnecessary for me to go through the formality of tendering my resignation?"

"Do not take that view of it. The shock has unnerved me and excited you; we must not do anything hastily. Notwithstanding the evidence, I believe in your innocence. To prove that I mean what I say, I will add that your resignation is not demanded, and, if tendered, will not be accepted. I shall, as you know, be obliged to report the facts as I have found them, but something new may develop, and in the meantime I ask you to go on with your work in the store as if nothing had happened. Furthermore, I apologise to you for my momentary distrust. I-I was rather upset, you know."

Burton stood for a few moments undecided. A great darkness had arisen out of his cloudless sky of yesterday. For the present, at least, there seemed no course but to continue his service in the store, and trust that time would reveal the true solution of the robbery.

"It is very decent of you, Mr. Gardiner, to speak as you have. And as, if I were to leave your employ under the present circ.u.mstances, it might be construed unjustly toward both of us, I shall remain."

The news of the theft from Gardiner's safe quickly spread through the little town of Plainville. The first impulse of the citizens was to attribute the crime to bad men from "the other side," who had chosen Sat.u.r.day night for the theft, trusting to their thirty-six hours' start to place them at a safe distance from the scene of their operations. But as it became known that no violence had been used, that the safe had been opened and re-locked, and that the contents and location of the package were secrets known to only Gardiner and Burton, the wise ones shook their heads and murmured something about the folly of placing young men in positions of great temptation. And when it leaked out that Burton's keys had been found in the safe the street-corner clubs located the criminal without further difficulty.

The Attorney-General's department was at once communicated with, and the local constable, Bill Hagan, was instructed to take preliminary steps pending the arrival of an officer from the city. Hagan was a harmless but inefficient individual, whose chief qualifications for his position lay in his ability to avoid trouble and vote right at election time. He made a minute examination of the safe, and announced that he had discovered a clue. Great excitement prevailed as to the nature of the discovery, but Bill's lips were sealed. Previous attacks of this nature had been relieved by means of liberal applications of stimulants, and presently the constable found himself the centre of a circle of depositors who inst.i.tuted a run on their favourite bank-the hotel bar.

This unsealed Bill's lips, but only for entrance; so far from revealing his discovery he presently forgot all about it, and his convivial friends were left with a haunting suspicion that the clue had been a ruse which had accomplished its purpose.

The following day, however, the officer from the city appeared on the scene. He was a man of large stature and swarthy appearance, but with an excessive colouring of his facial eminence which indicated that he too was a regular patron of the financial inst.i.tution which absorbed most of Bill Hagan's income. Officer Elton, after a conference with his subordinate, visited Gardiner's store, and heard from the lips of the merchant a detailed account of such facts as had come to light concerning the crime.

Burton was waiting on a lady customer while his employer and the two policemen discussed the affair in the office; presently they came out, and Elton, indicating Burton, said in a voice that could be heard through the store-

"So this is the young man you speak of, who alone beside yourself knows the combination of the safe? Well, my young friend, you've got yourself into a fine mess this time."

Burton flushed. His father's shanty-man blood surged in his veins.

"If you are here to solve this mystery, go ahead and unearth the facts, and no one will welcome the truth more than I; but if you are come to throw insults at innocent people, I would enjoy your company for about two minutes on the street."

"Not so fast, not so fast, my young blood," said Elton. "It would be more to the point if you made a clear breast of this matter. Just hand over that money intact and I have no doubt your employer will be disposed to take a lenient view of the case, and it need not come before the courts at all. I think I can promise you that much. I have some influence with the department," he added, pompously, looking about on the crowd of curiosity seekers who had gathered in the store.

"I have nothing to confess," said Burton, hotly. "I know nothing, absolutely nothing, of what became of that package."

"You'll have a job making a jury believe that, and if you turn down the fair offer I made you, I will just place you under arrest."

"By whose authority?"

"By whose authority? By MY authority!"

"Your authority carries no weight with me," said Burton. "It may be as fict.i.tious as the courtesy of the police."

"Well then, look at that," said Elton, leaning forward and exposing a police b.u.t.ton.

"That proves nothing. You may have stolen it. Produce your papers."

Burton's anger had risen to a pitch where, although he appeared outwardly calm, every fibre of his being was charged with wild, rioting emotion. The disgrace of suspicion was keen enough, but the crude, brutal manner of the arrest, and Elton's apparent delight in the humiliation he was inflicting, were unbearable. He rightly guessed that the officer had no warrant, but was trying to carry matters with a high hand to impress his personal importance on the simple country folk about him, and he determined that the glory should not be all on one side.

"You say I stole it!" cried Elton, white with rage. "I'll put you in irons for this."

Burton stood behind the grocery counter, a short counter, about ten feet long. The store was now filled with excited onlookers, who, however, kept a little distance from the storm centre.

"Come out from behind that counter!" thundered Elton.

"Come in and bring me out," challenged Burton. "The people want to see you do it."

This direct appeal to Elton's weakness for self-aggrandis.e.m.e.nt decided the officer.

"Hagan, go in at that end," he commanded, with the air of a general mustering his legions. "We'll show this young blackleg where he gets off."

Hagan, with some trepidation, entered the pa.s.sage behind the counter and the grocery shelves at one end; Elton forced his way in at the other.

Taking in the situation at a glance, Burton caught up a weight off the scales and threw it at the head of the hesitating Hagan; that gentleman, in his eagerness to avoid the missile, slipped on the oily floor and sprawled behind the counter. Burton turned his attention to Elton, who was now upon him; he feinted a blow at the officer's face, which caused him to throw up his guard, but instead of striking he seized his adversary by the collar and administered a quick jerk forward which landed the policeman full-length flat on the hapless Hagan. A roar of delight greeted Burton's achievement, for, despite the weight of circ.u.mstantial evidence, many of the townspeople, and especially the young men, believed him innocent; and all were delighted to see this indignity heaped upon a bombastic bully who on several previous occasions had rendered himself obnoxious to the people of Plainville by his brutal arrogance. The weight of the law lay heavily upon Hagan, but the onlookers showed no disposition to lighten the burden, and the two men were left to extricate themselves from their narrow quarters as best they could. Elton, being on top, was first to get free, and as he emerged from behind the counter a great cheer broke from the lips of the now thoroughly delighted spectators. But if Elton was angry before, the jeers and laughter, with the knowledge that his dignity had suffered an irreparable collapse, filled him with maniacal fury. Seeing Burton standing in the middle of the floor he rushed toward him with a roar of imprecations, and the crowd quickly shifted to allow room for action.

But in his rage Elton failed to benefit from the lesson he had so recently experienced; he guarded his face from the threatened blow, only to be again seized by the collar and flung headlong on the floor with a violence that left him momentarily stunned. He rose slowly, but the shock had sobered him; he waited until his half-dazed eyes had properly located Burton; then, with the quickness of a cat he threw his hand to his hip and covered the lad with a revolver. Then, for the first time, came to Burton the realization that he too was armed; but while he feared no man with Nature's weapons he was no expert with pistols, and he had sense enough to realise that a fight under such conditions would be suicide. Elton advanced slowly, gloating over the revenge that was now within his grasp, but suddenly his feet shot from under him and he again collapsed on the floor, the revolver flying from his grasp as he fell. Two great hands closed about his throat; his nerveless jaw fell against the puffy wrinkles of his neck, and when he looked up it was into the face of old d.i.c.k Matheson, who had wandered in to see the cause of the excitement. Few who knew the mild-mannered farmer deemed him capable of such anger, nor of the vivid flow of sulphuric adjectives which he poured upon the now thoroughly cowed officer.

"Start a rough-house in Plainville, would you? Pull a revolver on this boy? Show these people how much of a fool can sometimes buy himself into a government salary? You, an officer of the law, attempting an unlawful act, and thoroughly trounced by a boy for doing it." He emphasized every sentence with a vicious shake of the helpless head. "Burton would have submitted in a minute to a properly qualified officer. But for you-bah!

You are an insult to every honest officer, a stench in the nostrils of Plainville, and if you are within the boundaries of this town in thirty minutes the vigilance committee will call on you." So saying he started to drag his prisoner to the door; willing hands crowded around with a.s.sistance, and this victim of a little brief authority was dumped unceremoniously into the street.

Elton gathered himself up and without a word started to walk to the railway station. "Now, get!" was Old d.i.c.k's last advice to him. Then turning to the crowd the farmer explained it all, half-apologetically, with the remark, "You see, I knew his father on the Muddywaski."

CHAPTER VI-THE ARM OF THE LAW

"All things are in the Beginning, All things are to the End, Though few may know the secret, And none may comprehend; And some must paint in error.

And some must paint aright; For some paint in the shadow, And some paint in the light."

_The Empire Builders._

If there was one thing upon which the people of Plainville prided themselves it was their law-abiding disposition. This is an attribute of Canadians generally, and, it may be said, particularly of the Canadians of the prairie provinces. That the dweller in the land of the maple should possess a reverence for law which does not distinguish any other nationality of the Western Hemisphere is not so much a matter of const.i.tutional difference, or of the law itself; the secret lies in the manner in which the law has been administered and enforced, and in the fortunate circ.u.mstance that Canada has, as a rule, been able to secure the services of intelligent and incorruptible officers. The tact, consideration and efficiency of the police have won for them the appreciation and support of the ma.s.ses, and the remarkable security of life and property prevailing throughout the vast and spa.r.s.ely settled country is due more to the incorruptible service, gentlemanly bearing and unquestioned personal bravery of her police than to all the rifles in her armouries.

But of recent years the police had fallen, comparatively, into disrepute. The mounted police had been withdrawn, and the local officers were selected more with a view to rewarding past political services, and furnishing a retainer for services yet to be performed, than from any consideration of mental or physical efficiency. This fact was undermining the public loyalty to the police, and the crowd who discussed Burton's attempted arrest as they waited at the post office for their mail were obviously in sympathy with the young man.

"I'm in favour of the law, an' of the law bein' carried out," said Big Jack McTavish, "but when my hired man thinks he's more important about the farm than I am, I gen'rally manage pretty soon to make a change. An'

that seems to be about the att.i.tood of these here policemen like we have now-a-days. We hire 'em, an' give 'em a job an' a clean soot, an' they ain't got the crease outa their pants before they get the idea we was just created for their convenyunce."

"Taint just the police," said Tim O'Brien; "it's the whole joodishary.

Where do they get the judges, will you tell me that? Lawyers, bedad, an'

no recoord uv their conversion, nayther."