arehouses
inside of six months. The Pioneer Traders never give out what they
lose."

"You, yourself, have lost quite a bit, haven't you, Brenchfield?" put
in Pederstone.

"Yes!--from time to time, but I could never lay my finger definitely
on the shortage. My records have been faulty in the past, but I'm
going to keep a better watch on it for the future."

"Well!" returned the smith, "the fewer of Pierre Qu'appelle's thieving
kind we have in the community, the better for all of us."

"We pretty nearly had a newcomer of the same brand when you were at
Enderby, John."

"So I heard! How did it finish, Ben? I heard they got him. How did
they manage it?"

"Better ask the Mayor," said the editor guardedly. "He ought to know
how these things finish. Who was the man, Graham? How did the chase
end?"

"Oh!" muttered Brenchfield, "it was some runaway from Ukalla. He
landed in here under a freight train, and the detectives were riding
in the caboose and he didn't know it."

Todd laughed.

"Pretty good copy! What else?"

"He gave them the slip. They got in touch with me later. We set off on
a hunt. Found the fellow in a barn. But he got out at the skylight
window and made a run for it."

"The poor devil! He deserved to get away after that," remarked the
editor.

"Pretty nearly did, too! One of the detectives winged him on the B. X.
Road," lied the Mayor. "He beat us to it for a time. I went home to
bed after a bit, but I heard later that they fell in with their man
looking for food in Chinatown in the early morning. He led them
another chase up over the high road and down the Kickwillie Loop to
the lake. He got into a rowing boat and made out into the middle of
the water. The detectives got into Murray's gasoline launch and were
soon within hailing distance of him. But the beggar was game, although
he must have been half-dead by that time.

"When he saw it was all up, he took off the coat, or sweater, or
whatever it was he was wearing, wrapped it round the little anchor in
the boat, undid the rope and plumped the lot into the lake."

"What on earth did he do that for?" asked Pederstone.

"Oh, I guess he got the clothes from someone up here and didn't wish
to implicate them."

"By gosh! but he was game," put in Ben Todd. "Darned if I wouldn't
like a shake of his hand for that!"

The editor turned, and his expression changed. He raised his hat.

"Eh,--excuse my language, Miss Pederstone. I,--I didn't know you