ATEN RS IH

Ss

J. W. SHERBININ
& SON

Manufacturers of

Lumber and Timber of All
Kinds

Production About Twelve Million
Feet per Year

*

Sawmills at Midway, B.C.

E. C. HENNIGER & CO. LTD.

*

Flour and Feed
*

GRAND FORKS, B.C.

Subscribe to The Shoulder Strap

HUNTER BROS. LTD.

Department Store

Groceries, Hardware and Men’s Clothing
Chinaware, Radios, Refrigerators

Ladies’ Shoes, Hosiery and Lingerie

Rossland, B. C.

WILLIAM BAKER LTD.
Rossland, B. C.

Insurance Real Estate
Stocks and Bonds

NOTARY PUBLIC

Telephone 118 P.O. Drawer 150

CITY GARAGE
A. F. HUBNER, Proprietor
EXPERT REPAIRS TO ALL MAKES OF CARS

Gasoline, Oils, Tires, Tubes and Accessories

ROSSLAND, B.C.

ORWELL HOTEL

MISS H. HOLMES, Proprietress
FULLY LICENSED DINING ROOM

COMFORTABLE ROOMS
ROSSLAND, B. C.

“Yes, sergeant!” replied Slim. “Three
days ago.”

“Sorry to hear that! How'd it happen?”

“At Swampy Lake!” put in Jean Proth-
eroe. “Slim was with him—”

“Then maybe Slim had-better be the one
to tell us about it,” interrupted Dalgleish.
“Tt will save you having to go over it all,
second-hand, Jean, and I guess it has wor-
ried you plenty already. Sit down, Slim,
and give us the straight dope.”

The sergeant took a chair, ‘straddled it,
and faced Slim who chose to remain stand-
ing against the woodwork at the division
of the two rooms, legs crossed and hands in
pockets.

“You see, sergeant, I had made up my
mind to quit it up here. I was going out
to hunt me a job in the city. Dave volun-
teered to take me out te the railroad. We
loaded up and started out Thursday morn-
ing. Made our first stop at Swampy Creek
for a bite of lunch. When half a mile
along the edge of the lake, I remembered
I had left my axe stuck in a tree, and
turned back for it. When I left Dave, he
was travelling ahead of the dogs, breaking
trail. Dave's dogs were trained to follow
him anywhere, without guidance.

“T caught up again with the team in less
than half an hour, but I could see no signs
of Dave. For a minute I didn’t think any-
thing of that. But I found the dogs squat-
ted on the ice in front of a fishing hole on
the lake, with broken ice floating and Dave’s
cap at the edge of the break. It was the
cap that scared me. The ice had given way
and evidently Dave had gone through and
got jammed beneath.

“T decided right there to come back here
to Jean.”

Slim told his story in a straightforward
manner, and it hung together without a
flaw.

“And that’s all?” said Dalgleish in a
hard-boiled way, at the end of it.

“Why, yes!” said Slim. “That's all I
can remember.”

“All right!” said the sergeant, rising,
“then let’s have a look at the body.”

“The body isn’t here, Sergeant,” an-
swered Jean Protheroe, rising also.

“What?”

“T didn’t bring it out,” put in Slim.
“You see—I prodded around under the ice
for quite a time, but I couldn’t find any-
thing—and—and I was afraid to get too
close in case I'd go in too, same as Dave
did.”

“Then how do you know Dave is under
the ice?” continued Dalgleish: “For sure,
I mean. A floating cap might mean a lot,
and it might mean not a damned thing.”

“Well then—I really don’t know, for
sure,’ replied Slim, “if that is the way
you look at it. So far as getting the body
was concerned, I knew it would be easy to
get it as soon as somebody like yourself
came along to lend a hand, or when the ice
broke up.”

Slim continued. unworried, excepting for
a careful choice of words, and, after all,
that was a habit with him.

“We'll go after the body first thing in
the morning, Slim. In the meantime, hunt

up some ropes, poles, and a ladder, so’s we
can make an early start.”
Murper—Nor AccIpDENT

Next morning, early, they set out for
Swampy Creek, and in less than half an
hour’s search, they fished Dave Protheroe’s
body from under the ice. There was noth-
ing unusual about the fishing hole. All
around the snow was packed and_hard-
crusted, and well beaten down with travel
ling backward and forward.

All the way back to the cebin, Sergeant
Dalgleish was silent as a clam. He did not
answ-1 when Constable Greene or Slim
spoke to him, and he did not seem to be
listening when Greene and Slim conversed
together.

As soon as they were inside the cabin
and Dave Protheroe’s body was laid down
on the floor in a corner of the bedroom, Dal
gleish turned to Slim.

“Well—I guess you'd better get ready to
come out with us today, Slim.”

Slim looked over to the sergeant in a
startled manner and made to speak.

“Ay, Slim—I’m arresting you on the
suspicion of murdering Dave Protheroe.
And I warn you that anything you say
now may be used in evidence against you
at your trial.”

“Against me!” cried Slim, incredulously,
and licking his drying lips in a manner that

=

= c
TRANSFER

wooo
—

British Columbia

THE ‘‘MERC.,”’

Trail’s Leading
Department Store

Crown Point Hotel

J. A. Kerr, Manager
The Interior’s Finest
e

Noted for Its Hospitality
and Excellent Service

Fully Licensed

Trail, British Columbia

THE SHOULDER STRAP