To all appearance the most unconcerned man was the Hon. Bunning-Ford, who still moved about the settlement in his cheery, debonnaire fashion, ever gentlemanly and always indolent.  He had taken up his residence in one of the many disused shacks which dotted round the market-place, and there, apparently, sought to beguile the hours and eke out the few remaining dollars which were his.  For Lablache, in his sweeping process, had still been forced to hand over some money, over and above his due, as a result of the sale of the young rancher’s property.  The trifling amount, however, was less than enough to keep body and soul together for six months.

Lablache, too, staunch to his opinions, did not trouble himself in the least.  For the rest, all who knew of the meditated coup of Horrocks were agitated to a degree.  All hoped for success, but all agreed in a feeling of pessimism which was more or less the outcome of previous experiences of Retief.  Did not they know, only too well, of the traps which had been laid and which had failed to ensnare the daring desperado in days gone by?  Horrocks they fondly believed to be a very smart man, but had not some of the best in the Canadian police been sent before to bring to justice this scourge of the district?

Amongst those who shared these pessimistic views Mrs. Abbot was one of the most skeptical.  She had learnt all the details of the intended arrest in the way she learned everything that was going on.  A few judicious questions to the doctor and careful observations never left her long in the dark.  She had a natural gift for absorbing information.  She was a sort of social amalgam which never failed to glean the golden particles of news which remained after the “panning up” of daily events in Foss River.  Nothing ever escaped this dear old soul, from the details of a political crisis in a distant part of the continent down to the number of drinks absorbed by some worthless half-breed in “old man” Smith’s saloon.  She had one of those keen, active brains which refuses to become dull and torpid in an atmosphere of humdrum monotony.  Luckily her nature never allowed her to become a mischievous busybody.  She was too kindly for that—­too clever, tactful.

After duly weighing the point at issue she found Horrocks’s plans wanting, hence her unbelief, but, at the same time, her old heart palpitated with nervous excitement as might the heart of any younger and more hopeful of those in the know.

As for the Allandales, it would be hard to say what they thought.  Jacky went about her duties with a placidity that was almost worthy of the great money-lender himself.  She showed no outward sign, and very little interest.  Her thoughts she kept severely to herself.  But she had thoughts on the subject, thoughts which teemed through her brain night and day.  She was in reality aglow with excitement, but the Breed nature in her allowed no sign of emotion to appear.  “Poker” John was beyond a keen interest.  Whisky and cards had done for him what morphine and opium does for the drug fiend.  He had no thoughts beyond them.  In lucid intervals, as it were, he thought, perhaps, as well as his poor dulled brain would permit him, but the result of his mental effort would scarcely be worth recording.