dice being overcome by the new coat of
tan that encroached upon it.

His presence at Thorlakson Phil accounted for very briefly, saying
merely that he had come back there to look for a lost pocketbook,
containing his railway pass. But it had not been the pass or the loose
change that had troubled him so greatly; it had been--well, darn it, he
didn't want to lose them like that anyway!--a dollar bill, wrapped
carefully around a lady's shirtwaist pin! It was his own business
entirely. Luckily Thorlakson had picked it up and was able to restore
the pocketbook with its contents intact.

As it had turned out Kendrick's evening hike back down the track to
Thorlakson had been a lucky thing for Podmore too. Within a mile of
the siding Phil had come upon him, sitting beside the track in despair
of reaching human aid before he collapsed completely. He had been
badly hurt in his fall from the train, and aside from these injuries
his hands were swollen and covered with dirt and blood, his torn
clothes encrusted with dried mud, collar and tie gone and his shirt
ripped open in front, revealing neck and chest smeared with blood where
the blackflies had bitten him severely.

"He had spent part of the night and the whole day in the woods and was
half out of his head, poor devil!" said Phil. "I managed to get him
down here and with the help of Mrs. Thorlakson's homemade liniment I
fixed him up as well as I could. He insisted on me staying with him
all night--till you arrived, in fact."

"Expected us, eh?" grunted Wade.

"Oh, sure. News of the--er--accident travelled up and down the line
pretty swiftly. A track-walker passed the word to us early yesterday
morning just as we were starting out from the caboose for the day's
work. So I had Thorlakson get a message off to you; he stuck it in a
split stick and the engineer of a passing freight caught it O.K. and
took it up the line to the operator at Indian Creek."

As Kendrick finished speaking they both turned to watch Cranston
approaching slowly, supporting Podmore. The secretary's condition had
improved greatly under Phil's ministrations and the food which Mrs.
Thorlakson had prepared for him. But it was apparent that he was still
suffering from shock and beneath the bandage about his head the black
and blue evidence of the contusion was visible. His sprained arm was
bandaged also and he limped badly and leaned heavily upon the detective.

"Hello there, Hughey," greete