nd
he felt dizzy. Shillito struggled like a savage animal and Lister
imagined the trooper did not help much. He got his arms round his
antagonist and tried to pull him down; Shillito was trying to reach the
opening in the rails. After a moment or two, Lister felt his muscles
getting slack, lurched forward, and saw nothing in front. He plunged out
from the gap, struck a step with his foot, and somebody fell on him.
Then he thought he heard a rifle-shot, and knew nothing more.

By and by somebody pulled him to his feet and he saw the conductor
holding his arm. A group of excited passengers stood round them in the
light that shone from the train and some others ran along the edge of
the woods. The trooper and Shillito were gone.

Lister's head hurt, he felt shaky, and when he wiped his face his hand
was wet with blood.

"My head's cut. S'pose I hit something when I fell," he said.

"Shillito socked it to you pretty good," the conductor replied, and
waved his lamp. "All aboard!" he shouted, and pushed Lister up the
steps.

When they reached the platform the car jolted and Lister sat down, with
his back against the door.

"My legs won't hold me," he said in an apologetic voice. "Did Shillito
get off?"

"Knocked out the trooper and made the bush; the other fellow was way
back along the train," the conductor replied. "They want him for
embezzlement and will soon get on his trail, but the wash-out's broke
the wires and I reckon he'll cross the frontier ahead. Now you come
along and I'll try to fix your cut."

Lister went, and soon after a porter helped him into his berth. His head
hurt and he felt very dull and slack, but he slept and when he woke
bright sunshine streamed into the standing car and he saw the train had
stopped at Winnipeg. Soon afterwards the conductor and one of the
station officials put him into an automobile.

"If the reporters get after you, remember you're not to talk about the
girl," he said to the conductor.

The other nodded, and signed the driver to start. The car rolled off and
stopped at the house of a doctor who dressed the cut on Lister's head
and ordered him a week's rest. Lister went to a hotel, and in the
morning found a romantic narrative of Shillito's escape in the
newspaper, but was relieved to note that nothing was said about the
girl. The report, however, stated that a passenger who tried to help the
police had got badly hurt and Shillito had vanished in the woods. The
police h