t nearly sure he had not got on board at the Crossing.
This seemed to indicate that he could not have been investigating the
tragedy there, particularly since Hulton had only recovered from the
shock a few days ago. Then Hulton had stated that he meant to send for
a New York man, and not that he had done so. The fellow, however,
might be a confidential agent of the Government's, who had perhaps
found out something about certain mysterious attempts to damage public
property.

By and by Foster smiled. Carmen had given him a valuable packet to
take care of, and now this stranger had asked his help. Both had
stated their confidence in him, but it was getting obvious that to look
as if one could be trusted had its drawbacks. He did not feel much
disturbed as he read the newspaper, which reported the arrest of two
strangers with dynamite cartridges near the locks of a big canal, but
presently put it down and glanced at his watch. The ten minutes had
nearly gone and he looked out of the window. A frozen lake shimmered
at the edge of the track and then, with a harsh uproar, the train
plunged into the shadow of a cliff. On the summit stunted pines cut
against the sky, and Foster knew they ran from the Manitoban border to
the Ottawa across as rugged and stony a wilderness as there is in the
Dominion. The stations were small and sometimes only places where the
locomotives stopped for water. He could not remember when they had
passed the last.

Looking at his watch again, he saw that he had kept his promise, but
decided to give the man a few more minutes, and then go to his berth,
unless he could learn something about him from the conductor. The
berth was in the Pullman farther along the train, and after walking
through the empty car he opened the door of a vestibule and stepped out
on the platform. It was unprotected except for a brass rail at the
side, which was divided in the middle where the steps went down. The
floor jolted and a bitter wind that whistled between the vestibules
buffeted him. Although he wore the fur coat, he shivered, and as he
stepped across the gap between the platforms the door behind him
rattled.

Turning sharply round, he saw a man's dark figure in the shadow of the
curving roof, and felt his heart beat. Then the door he had been
making for swung back, and he knew he had another antagonist to deal
with. He carried no pistol and there was not much chance of a shout
for help being heard,