XV

Ever since the evening in camp when Wentworth had confided in him that
he had the coat, Hedin had been debating his course of procedure. His
first impulse had been to denounce Wentworth to his face, to seize the
coat and obtain the engineer's arrest. He knew that Downey expected to
return to the post--but there was Jean to consider. Jean--the girl of
his fondest dreams, who had forsaken him and fallen under the spell of
the courtly manners of the suave soldier-engineer. What would Jean
think? If she loved the man she would never believe in his guilt. She
would believe, with a woman's irrational loyalty, that he, Hedin, had
in some manner contrived to place the coat in Wentworth's possession,
and he knew that the engineer would never cease to proclaim that he had
been made the dupe of a scheming lover. The case against the man must
be plain. When Jean could be shown that Wentworth deliberately
endeavored to cheat her father, she would then believe that he stole
the coat. She would be saved from throwing herself away, and
he--Hedin's lips moved, "I will hire out to the Company, and ask to be
sent to the northern-most post they've got."

Upon his arrival at the post, Wentworth made out two reports, one to
McNabb and the other to Orcutt, which he dispatched to the railway by a
Company Indian. Late in the afternoon, as he was polishing his
instruments in the little cabin, the figure of Sven Larson appeared in
the doorway. The engineer motioned him to enter and close the door
behind him. "Where is Murchison?" he asked, glancing through the
window toward the post.

"He has gone in a boat with Wawake to set the fish nets."