his tracks," said a bystander.
"That ain't no good ef he has, as they SAY he has, papers stowed away
with a friend that would frighten some mighty partickler men out o'
their boots," returned the first speaker. "But he's got his spies too,
and thar ain't a man that crosses the Divide as ain't spotted by them.
The officers brag about havin' put a cordon around the district, and yet
they've just found out that he managed to send a telegraphic dispatch
from Black Rock station right under their noses. Why, only an hour or
so arter the detectives and the news arrived here, thar kem along one o'
them emigrant teams from Pike, and the driver said that a smart-lookin'
chap in store-clothes had come out of an old prospector's cabin up
thar on the rise about a mile away and asked for a newspaper. And the
description the teamster gave just fitted Trixit to a T. Well, the
information was give so public like that the detectives HAD to make a
rush over thar, and b'gosh! although thar wasn't a soul passed them
but a file of Chinese coolies, when they got thar they found
NOTHIN',--nothin' but them Chinamen cookin' their rice by the roadside."
Masterton smiled carelessly, and walked to the window, as if intent upon
the still falling snow. But he had at once grasped the situation that
seemed now almost providential for his inexperience and his mission. The
man he was seeking was within his possible reach, if the story he had
heard was true. The detectives would not be likely to interfere with his
plans, for he was the only man who really wished to meet the fugitive.
The presence of Poole made him uneasy, though he had never met the man
before. Was it barely possible that he was on the same mission on behalf
of others? IF what he heard was true, there might be others equally
involved with the absconding manager. But then the spies--how could the
deputy sheriff elude them, and how could HE?
He was turning impatiently away from the window when his eye caught
sight of a straggling file of Chinamen breasting the storm on their way
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