Page:The trail of the golden horn.djvu/178

174 “Oh!” The missionary started as if stabbed with a knife. He comprehended now the purpose of this man’s visit. The real vileness of his nature was fully revealed.

“What are ye waitin’ fer?” Bill demanded. “Didn’t ye hear what I said?”

“Yes, I heard, but I am waiting for you to recover your senses.”

“My senses are all right,” Bill retorted. “But you won’t have any senses left to recover if you don’t git a hustle on. I want that ring, and at once.”

“How do you know that I have a ring?”

“H’m, I know, all right. Didn’t I see Hugo, the trapper, give it to you last night?”

“And were you watching?”

“Sure, I was watchin’. Ye don’t keep any blinds or curtains to yer windows, see? Oh, I saw the ring, an’ know where it came from, too. Hugo killed Bill Haines an’ his wife to git that. But I want it, so hurry up.”

“What! was it the cause of murder?” the missionary asked, greatly horrified. “Where? When?”

“Along the Yukon, near the C.D. Cut-off. Hugo killed Bill Haines an’ his wife, an’ threw their bodies into the river.”

“How do you know this?” was the unexpected question.

“Never mind how I know. It will all come out when the Police git through with their job. But hurry up, I want that ring.”

A great suspicion now swept upon the missionary. He had not heard of any murder, but if one had been committed, he surmised that the man before him was the guilty one. He could not believe that Hugo would