CHAPTER XVII
THE HEARING
They moved to a better camping-place on the mainland. Major Egertoncould rough it as well as any youngster in the service, but as a matterof principle he always carried a folding bed, table, and chair in hisoutfit. These simple articles made a great impression on the natives.When the Major's tent was pitched, and the table and chair set upinside, the effect of a court of justice was immediately created, evenin the remotest wilderness.
Next morning they all gathered in his tent. The Major sat at the tablewith Coulter, his orderly and general factotum, sitting on a box at hisleft with pen and note-book before him. Stonor stood at the Major'sright. The two prisoners stood facing the table, with Lambert keeping aneye on them. Clare sat in the place of honour on the Major's cot againstthe side of the tent. Tole and Ancose squatted on their heels justinside the door.
"I'll start with the woman," said the Major. Addressing her directly, hesaid sternly: "It is my duty to tell you that anything you may say herecan be used against you later, and it is therefore your privilege torefuse to answer. At the same time a refusal to answer naturallysuggests the fear of incriminating yourself, so think well before yourefuse. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Ah, you speak good English. That simplifies matters. First, what isyour name?"
"Annie Alexander."
"Married?"
"No, sir."
"Age?"
"Forty-four."
"Hm! You don't look it. What is your relation to the other prisonerhere?"
"No relation, just a friend."
"Ah? Where do you come from?"
The woman hesitated.
Imbrie murmured: "Winnipeg."
"Be silent!" cried the Major. "Sergeant Lambert, take that man out, andkeep him out of earshot until I call you."
It was done.
"How long have you been in this country?"
"Since Spring--May."
"How did you come in?"
"By way of Caribou Lake and the Crossing."
"Alone?"
"Yes, sir."
"By what means did you travel?"
"I got passage on a york boat up the rivers, and across Caribou Lake.From the lake a freighter took me on his load across the long portage tothe Crossing."
"Ancose," said the Major, "you watch the prisoner outside, and askSergeant Lambert to step here."
Meanwhile he went on with his questions. "How did you travel from theCrossing?"
"I built a little raft and floated down the Spirit River to CarcajouPoint."
Lambert came in.
"Lambert," said the Major, "this woman claims to have come over theportage to the Crossing in May with a freighter and to have built a raftthere and floated down the river. Can you verify her story?"
"No, sir, never saw her before."
"Is it possible for her to have done such a thing?"
"Possible, sir," said Lambert cautiously, "but not likely. It's part ofmy business to keep track of all who come and go. There are not enoughtravellers to make that difficult. Such an extraordinary thing as awoman travelling alone on a raft would have been the talk of thecountry. If I might ask her a question, sir----?"
The Major signed to him to do so.
"What was the name of the freighter who brought you over the portage?"
"I don't know his whole name. Men called him Jack."
Lambert shrugged. "There's many a Jack, sir."
"Of course. Let it go for the present." To the woman he said: "What wasyour object in making this long journey alone?"
"Doctor Imbrie wrote to me to come and live with him. He had nobody totake care of his house and all that."
"I see. What do you mean by saying he was your friend?" The Major askedthis with an uneasy glance in Clare's direction.
"Just my friend," answered the woman, with a hint of defiance. "I tookcare of him when he was little."
"Ah, his nurse. When did you get the letter from him?"
"In March."
"Where was it sent from?"
"Fort Enterprise."
"Sergeant Stonor, can you testify as to that?"
"I can testify that it is not true, sir. It was a matter of commonknowledge at the post that Doctor Imbrie neither received nor sent anyletters. We wondered at it. Furthermore, the only word received from himall winter was in January."
The Major turned to the woman. "According to that you are telling anuntruth about the letter," he said sternly. "Do you wish to change yourstatement?"
She sullenly shook her head.
The Major shrugged and went on. "Was Doctor Imbrie waiting for you atCarcajou Point?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why didn't you meet at Fort Enterprise, where there was a good trail toSwan River?"
"He didn't feel like explaining things to the white men there. He likesto keep to himself."
"Where did you go from Carcajou Point?"
"We bought horses from the Beaver Indians and rode overland to SwanLake."
"Bought horses?" said the Major quickly. "How did Doctor Imbrie get toCarcajou in the first place?"
She corrected herself. "I mean he bought extra horses for me, and forthe outfit."
"And you rode to Swan Lake on your way back to his place?"
"Yes, sir."
"Did you go to his place?"
"No, sir, I got sick at Swan Lake and he had to leave me."
"But if you were sick you needed a doctor, didn't you?"
"I wasn't very sick, I just couldn't travel, that was all."
"But why did he have to leave you?"
"He had business at his place."
"Business? There was no one there but himself."
The woman merely shrugged.
Major Egerton waved his hand in Clare's direction. "Do you know thislady?"
"Yes, sir. It's Doctor Imbrie's wife."
"How do you know that?"
"I saw them married."
"Where was that?"
"I won't answer that at present."
The Major turned to Clare apologetically. "Please excuse me if I mustask a painful question or two."
Clare nodded reassuringly.
"Why had Doctor Imbrie left his wife?"
The woman's eyes sparkled with resentment. "He didn't leave her. Sheleft him. She----"
"That will do!" ordered the Major.
But the woman raised her voice. "She threw up the fact of his having redblood to him--though she knew it well enough when she married him. Hewas all cut up about it. That was why he came up here."
The Major, slightly embarrassed, turned to Stonor. "Will you questionher?" he asked testily. "You are better informed as to the wholecircumstances."
"If I might hear the man's story first, sir?"
"Very well. Send for him. What is the charge against the woman?"
"Shooting with intent to kill, sir."
"Enter that, Coulter. Whom did she shoot at?"
"At me, sir. On two occasions."
"Ah! An officer in the performance of his duty. Amend the charge,Coulter. Please relate the circumstances."
Stonor did so.
"Have you anything to say in regard to that?" the Major asked the woman.
She shook her head.
By this time Imbrie was again facing the tribunal. At Stonor's requestthe woman was allowed to remain in the tent during his examination.After stating the usual formula as to his rights, the Major startedquestioning him.
"Your name?"
"Ernest Imbrie, M.D."
"Age?"
"Twenty-six."
"Place of birth?"
"Winnipeg."
"Father's name?"
"John Imbrie."
"His occupation?"
"Farmer."
The Major raised his eyebrows. "In Winnipeg?"
"He lived off the income of his farms."
"Ah! Strange I never heard the name in Winnipeg. Do you wish to give anyfurther information
about your antecedents?"
"Not at present, sir."
"You have Indian blood in your veins?"
"Yes, sir, my grandmother was an Indian. I never saw her."
"How long have you been in this district?"
"A year, sir."
"How did you come here?"
"I got employment with a crew of boatmen at Miwasa Landing. I travelledwith them as far as Great Buffalo Lake. There I bought a canoe from theIndians and came up the Swan River to the Great Falls and built me ashack."
"You were alone then?"
"Yes, sir."
"How did this woman come to join you?"
"I sent for her to keep my house for me."
"How did you get word to her?"
Imbrie blandly evaded the trap. "I sent a letter out privately to bepassed along by the Indians--what they call moccasin telegraph."
"Ah! Why did you choose that method?"
"Because I wished to keep my affairs to myself. I had heard of thecuriosity of the white men at Fort Enterprise concerning my movements,and I did not care to gratify it."
"Very well. Now, when you started back with her, did she go home withyou?"
"No, sir. She was taken sick at Swan Lake, and I had to leave herthere."
"How did you come to leave her if she was sick?"
"She was not very sick. Her leg swelled up and she couldn't travel, thatwas all."
Stonor signed to the Major that he wished to ask a question, and theMajor bade him go ahead.
"Tell us exactly what was the matter with her, as a doctor, I mean."
"You wouldn't understand if I did tell you."
The Major rapped smartly on the table. "Impudence will do you no good,my man! Answer the Sergeant's question!"
"I decline to do so."
Stonor said: "I have established the point I wished to make, sir. Hecan't answer it."
Major Egerton proceeded: "Well, why didn't you wait for her until shegot well?"
"I had to make a garden at home."
"You travelled three hundred miles down the river and back again to makea garden!"
"We have to eat through the winter."
"Stonor, was there a garden started at Imbrie's place?"
"Yes, sir, but it had been started weeks before. The potatoes werealready several inches high."
Imbrie said: "I planted the potatoes before I left."
"Well, leave the garden for the present." The Major indicated Clare."You know this lady?"
"I should hope so."
"Confine your answers to plain statements, please. Who is she?"
"My wife."
"Have you any proof of that?"
"She says so. She ought to know."
The Major addressed Clare. "Is it true that you have said you were hiswife?"
"I cannot tell you of my own knowledge, sir. Sergeant Stonor has told methat before I lost my memory I told him I was Ernest Imbrie's wife."
The Major bowed and returned his attention to Imbrie. "When and wherewere you married?"
"I decline to answer."
The excellent Major, who was not noted for his patience with theevil-doer, turned an alarming colour, yet he still sought to reason withthe man. "The answer to that question could not possibly injure youunder any circumstances."
"Just the same, I decline to answer. You said it was my right."
With no little difficulty the Major still held himself in. "I amasking," he said, "for information which will enable me to return thislady to her friends until her memory is restored."
"I decline to give it," said Imbrie hardily. His face expressed apleased vanity in being able, as he thought, to wield the whip-hand overthe red-coats.
The little Major exploded. "You damned scoundrel!" he cried. "I'd liketo wring your neck!"
"Put that down, please," Imbrie said to the clerk with ineffableconceit.
The Major put his hands behind his back and stamped up and down the fourpaces that comprised the length of his tent. "Stonor, I wonder--I wonderthat you took the patience to bring him to last night!" he stammered."Go on and question him if you want. I haven't the patience."
"Very well, sir. Imbrie, when I was taking you and this lady back toFort Enterprise, why did you carry her off?"
"She was my wife. I wanted her. Anything strange in that?"
"No. But when we came to you at your place, why did you run away fromus?"
"I hadn't had a good look at her then. I thought it best to keep out ofthe way."
"Why weren't you willing to come to the post and let the whole thing beexplained?"
Imbrie's face suddenly turned dark with rage. He burst out, scarcelycoherently: "I'll tell you that! And you can all digest it! A fat chanceI'd have had among you! A fat chance I have now of getting a fairhearing! If she came all this way to find me, it's clear she wanted tomake up, isn't it? Yet when she saw me, she turned away. She'd beentravelling with you too long. You'd put your spell on her. You saidshe'd lost her memory. Bunk! Looks more like hypnotism to me. You wantedher for yourself. That's the whole explanation of this case. You've gotnothing on me. You only want to railroad me so that the way will beclear for you with her. Why, when I was bound up they made love to eachother before my very face. Isn't that true?"
"I am not under examination just now," said Stonor coldly.
"Answer me as a man, isn't it true?"
"No, it's a damned lie!"
"Well, if it had been me, I would!" cried the little Major.
Sergeant Lambert concealed a large smile behind his large hand.
Stonor, outwardly unmoved, said: "May I ask the woman one more question,sir, before I lay a charge against the man?"
"Certainly."
Stonor addressed the woman. "You say you are unmarried?"
"Yes."
"What are you doing with a wedding-ring?"
"It's my mother's ring. She gave it to me when she died."
"Tole," said Stonor, "take that ring off and hand it to me." To theMajor he added in explanation: "Wedding-rings usually have the initialsof the contracting parties and the date."
"Of course!"
The ring was removed and handed to Stonor.
Examining it he said: "There is an inscription here, sir. It is: 'J.I.to A.A., March 3rd, 1886.' It stands to reason this woman's mother wasmarried long before 1886."
"She was married twice," muttered the woman.
Stonor laughed.
"What do you make of it, Sergeant?" asked the Major.
"John Imbrie to Annie Alexander."
"Then you suspect----?"
"That this woman is the man's mother, sir. It first occurred to me lastnight."
"By George! there is a certain likeness."
All those in the tent stared at the two prisoners in astonishment. Thecouple bore it with sullen inscrutability.
"I am now ready to make a charge against the man, sir."
The Major sat down. "What is the charge?"
"Murder."
Imbrie must have had this possibility in mind, for his face neverchanged a muscle. The woman, however, was frankly taken by surprise. Sheflung up her manacled hands involuntarily; a sharp cry escaped her.
"It's a lie!"
"Whom did he murder?"
"A man unknown to me, sir."
"Where was the deed committed?"
"At or near the shack above the Great Falls."
The woman's inscrutability was gone. She watched Stonor and waited forhis evidence in an agony of apprehension.
"Did you find the body?"
"Yes, sir."
"Under what circumstances?"
"It had been thrown in the rapids, sir, in the expectation that it wouldbe carried over the falls. Instead, however, it lodged in a log-jamabove the falls. As I was walking along the shore I saw a foot stickingout of the water. I brought the body ashore----"
"You brought the body ashore--out of the rapids above the falls----?"
"Yes, sir. A woman I had with me,
Mary Moosa, helped me."
"Describe the victim."
"A young man, sir, that is to say, under thirty. In stature about thesame as the prisoner, and of the same complexion. What remained of hisclothes suggested a man of refinement."
"But his face?"
"It was unrecognizable, sir."
A dreadful low cry broke from the half-breed woman. Her manacled handswent to her face, her body rocked forward from the waist.
The man rapped out a command to her in the Indian tongue to get a gripon herself. She tried to obey, straightening up, and taking down herhands. Her face showed a ghastly yellow pallor.
"What proof have you of murder?" asked the Major.
"There was no water in the dead man's lungs, sir, showing that he wasdead before his body entered the water. There was a bullet-hole throughhis heart. I found the bullet itself lodged in the front of his spine.It was thirty-eight calibre, a revolver bullet. This man carried athirty-eight revolver. I took it from him. I sent revolver and bulletout by Tole Grampierre."
Lambert spoke up: "They are in my possession, sir."
The breed woman seemed about to collapse. Imbrie, who had given no signof being affected by Stonor's recital, now said with a more conciliatoryair than he had yet shown:
"If you please, sir, she is overcome by the trooper's horrible story.Will you let her go outside for a moment to recover herself?"
"Very well," said the good-natured Major, "watch her, Lambert."
As the woman passed him Imbrie whispered to her in the Indian tongue:"Throw your locket in the river."
Stonor, on the alert for a trick of some kind, overheard. "No, youdon't!" he said, stepping forward.
The woman made a sudden dive for the door, but Lambert seized her. Shestruggled like a mad thing, but the tall sergeant's arms closed aroundher like a vice. Meanwhile Stonor essayed to unclasp the chain aroundher neck. The two breeds guarded Imbrie to keep him from interfering.
Stonor got the locket off at last, and opened it with his thumb nail.The woman suddenly ceased to struggle, and sagged in Lambert's arms. Anexclamation escaped from Stonor, and he glanced sharply into Imbrie'sface. Within the locket on one side was a tinted photograph of the headsof two little boys, oddly alike. On the other side was an inscription inthe neat Spencerian characters of twenty years before: "Ernest andWilliam Imbrie,"--and a date.
Stonor handed the locket over to the Major without speaking. "Ha!" criedthe latter. "So that is the explanation. There were two of them!"