se that had been prepared for him and
- hypnotized, speculating in a disinter-
ed way, the outcome.
Would Charlie release Jake and come
nning for him before the fuse reached
. charge? The fuse was burning short
‘en at the entrance appeared Jake, gun
hand, arm about Charlie and fearful
king. Charlie hung limp and vine-like
out rhe huge saat of Jake, but the
-vitable knife was in his uninjured
ad. There was no doubting his inten-
ns. Then the charge blew with a mighty
ir and Manfield sank into black for-
‘fulness.

TABLES TURNED

Consciousness was returning like a
in-ridden nightmare as bright stabbing
hts pierced the blackness, and he heard
ices talking.

‘Lampson! Here he is.
ad.” Someone bent over him, felt his
dy gently, then turned him over. He
v the uniformed figure of Corporal

Give mea

THE ‘‘MERC.”’

Trail’s

Leading
Department Store

WEST KOOTENAY
POWER AND LIGHT COMPANY

Generators and Distributors of Elecirical Energy for.

Light °,

Dunn, and a pair of blue eyes gazing at
him sympathetically. “What did you find,
Lampson ? ce Bea interrogated. “There
1s a room down the main tunnel with a
wounded man in it. There must have been
the devil to pay by the look of things,”
rejoined Lampson.

They cleared the debris off Manfield,
assisted him to his feet and helped him
to the room down the tunnel. After Con-
stable Lampson had given him skilled
first-aid attention, he smiled wryly and
queried, “How did you get here?”

Dunn thrust his stetson back, gave his
gum a final flip with his tongue and said,
“Got the coroner as you instructed, tucked
the evidence away ‘and turned over the
routine jobs to one of our men. Followed
Charlie’s trail to the highway and came
on to Lampson’s detachment. Found him
fuming and cussing Charlie and his min-
ions a blue streak—never knew he had it

in him. Seems his gas was adulterated
with abrasive. You go on from here,

Bob.”

Bob Lampson, a young, alert-looking
constable, continued: “I was trailing you
at a safe distance when my engine seized
up. I found out later that a hop-head
named Menzor was nosing around my
car. The grapevine works fast, and Char-
lie was taking no chances. Then Dunn
arrived like a fairy godmother and we
set out to find you. Well, you know how
it is with those side trails; logging trails,
hunters’ trails, and mining trails running

both sides of the road into the hills.
Lucky we found your glass—took a load
off our minds and led us to Mulsby’s
place.” He looked at Dunn and nodded.

“Well, Chief,” Dunn said. “Mulsby
was smooth as silk. Knew nothing about
you—nothing, until we made a search
over his protests and found traces of
blood on the rug and signs of a struggle.
We went to work on him then, and he
decided to talk. What he confessed made
us come fast to the mine where we found
you nigh buried under small rock. If you
had been five feet further in it would
have been flowers for you and no mistake.
Where is Charlie, and what happened?”

Manfield related all that took place
while Lampson busied himself with the
now protesting Spears, binding his
wounds and finally snapping on a shiny
pair of handcuffs with the admonition,
“Now sit back there and behave your-
self.”

COAL FEANGHER WOOD

LIMITED
TRAIL, B.C.

Heat :

: Power

RETAIL STORES AT TRAIL, ROSSLAND AND CRESTON, B.C., HANDLING

ALL KINDS OF ELECTRICAL HOUSEHOLD CONVENIENCES and APPLIANCES

Generating Stations Located at South Slocan, Lower Bonnington, Upper
Bonnington, Corra Linn, Brilliant, B.C., on Kootenay River, and Creston,

.C., on Goat River

Page Eighty-nine