an cook and housekeeper is away."

"And the bungalow is closed, or supposed to be."

"Except at night, when Kedsty goes there to sleep."

O'Connor's hand gripped Kent's. "Jimmy, there never was a team in N
Division that could beat us, The girl is hiding at Kedsty's place!"

"But why HIDING?" insisted Kent. "She hasn't committed a crime."

O'Connor sat silent for a moment. Kent could hear him stuffing the bowl
of his pipe.

"It's simply the big hunch," he grunted. "It's got hold of me, Kent,
and I can't throw it off. Why, man--"

He lighted a match in the cup of his hands, and Kent saw his face.
There was more than uncertainty in the hard, set lines of it.

"You see, I went back to the poplars again after I left you today,"
O'Connor went on. "I found her footprints. She had turned off the
trail, and in places they were very clear.

"She had on high-heeled shoes, Kent--those Frenchy things--and I swear
her feet can't be much bigger than a baby's! I found where Kedsty
caught up with her, and the moss was pretty well beaten down. He
returned through the poplars, but the girl went on and into the edge of
the spruce. I lost her trail there. By traveling in that timber it was
possible for her to reach Kedsty's bungalow without being seen. It must
have been difficult going, with shoes half as big as my hand and heels
two inches high! And I've been wondering, why didn't she wear
bush-country shoes or moccasins?"

"Because she came from the South and not the North," suggested Kent.
"Probably up from Edmonton."

"Exactly. And Kedsty wasn't expecting her, was he? If he had been, that
first sight of her wouldn't have shattered every nerve in his body.
That's why the big hunch won't let loose of me, Kent. From the moment
he saw her, he was a different man. His attitude toward you changed
instantly. If he could save you now by raising his little finger, he
wouldn't do it, simply because it's absolutely necessary for him to
have an excuse for freeing McTrigger. Your confession came at just the
psychological moment. The girl's unspoken demand there in the poplars
was that he free McTrigger, and it was backed up by a threat which
Kedsty understood and which terrified him to his marrow. McTrigger must
have seen him afterward, for he waited at the office until Kedsty came.
I don't know what passed between them. Constable Doyle says they were
together for half an hour. Then McTrigger walked out of barracks, and
no one has seen