Whereas Lessard had acted the martinet with MacRae, he took another tack
and became the very essence of affability toward me. (I'd have enjoyed
punching his proud head, for all that; it was a dirty way to serve a man
who had done his level best.)

"Rather unfortunate happening for you, Flood," he began. "I think,
however, that we shall eventually get your money back."

"I hope so," I replied coolly. "But I must say that it begins to look
like a big undertaking."

"Well, yes; it is," he observed. "Still, we have a pretty thorough
system of keeping track of things like that. This is a big country, but
you can count on the fingers of one hand the places where a man can
spend money. Of course, you probably realize the difficulty of laying
hands on men who know they are wanted, and act accordingly. We can't
arrest on a description, because you wouldn't know the men if you saw
them. Our only chance is to be on the lookout for free spenders. It's a
certainty that they will be captured if they spend that money at any
trading-post within our jurisdiction. I'll find out if the quartermaster
knows the numbers and denomination of the bills. On the other hand, if
they go south, cross the line, you know, we won't get much of a show at
them. But we'll have to take chances on that."

"I've done all I can do in that direction," I said. "I've sent word to
La Pere."

"You had better stay hereabout for a while," he decided. "You can put up
at one of the troop-messes for a few days. I'll send a despatch to Whoop