he little foibles of his
superior were always amusing to him. Eyes still fixed on the envelope,
the Inspector commenced to fill his pipe.

"Spoiling for a job, Mahon?"

"Depends."

"Hm-m! Beautifully non-committal."

Mahon's interest was rising. The Inspector went on calmly cramming in
the tobacco. When the job was completed to his liking, he thrust the
pipe between his lips, flicked a loose flake from his tunic, and forgot
to apply a match. Instead, he picked up the envelope and examined it
on all sides. Mahon began to grow impatient.

Twice the Inspector turned the letter over. Mahon fretted. He could
see on its face the Division headquarters stamp--Lethbridge--but why
all this ceremony and pother about an official note that came almost
every day? He recalled suddenly that his wife would be holding lunch
for him--with fresh fish he had seen unloaded little more than an hour
ago from the through train from Vancouver. He could almost smell it
sizzling on the natural gas cooker.

"Hm-m!" The envelope was not yet broken. "I imagine this will
interest you, Mahon."

Suddenly the Inspector dived into a drawer and, taking from it an
official looking envelope, passed it back to the Sergeant. The latter
accepted it with fading interest. The Assistant Commissioner at Regina
was unfolding to Inspector Barker's immediate superior, the
Superintendent at Lethbridge, an unexciting tale of crime. Crime was
their daily diet, and this was located far beyond their district.

Somewhere away up north, hundreds of miles beyond the jurisdiction of
the Medicine Hat unit of the Mounted Police, events of concern to the
Police were happening along the line of the transcontinental railway
now under construction. Certain acts of sabotage--tearing down railway
trestles and bridges, undermining trains, displacing grade, tampering
with rails and switches--were not only hampering construction but
endangering life. And things were growing worse. In addition there
was complaint of horse-stealing at one isolated camp.

The point of the letter was contained in the last paragraph. Could
Superintendent Magwood spare an experienced bushman and trailer to go
north and take temporary charge?

Mahon handed the letter back with a laugh.

"Bit of a joke, horse-stealing from contractors who only last year
grabbed every stolen horse offered them. Retribution!"

The Inspector swung about on his swivel chair.

"We never discovered