“This book is my diary that I always carry with me.  That night I wrote in the blank pages what Nesis had told me, and later when she was conscious I read it to her, and she affirmed it sentence by sentence.  She understood how important it was.

“You may know that she comprehended what she was doing because she made me make changes—­you will find them here.  At the end I wrote her name and she made a cross.  Cora Thomas heard me read it to her, and saw her make her mark.”

The judge held out his hand for the book.

Once more Mr. Pascoe rose.  “My Lord,” he said, “it must be clear to you that the ends of justice have been defeated by the dramatic power of this tale.  It would be farcical to ask this jury to deliver an impartial verdict now.  This new evidence must be weighed and sifted with calm minds.  I request that you declare a mistrial, and that—­”

A still more dramatic surprise awaited Mr. Pascoe and the court.  Toward the end of the telling of Colina’s painful tale Gordon Strange had been forgotten by all in the room except the policeman detailed to watch him.  This man suddenly made a spring toward the half-breed, where he sat huddled beside his table.  He was too late.  The court was electrified by the muffled sound of a shot.  Strange fell forward on the table.  A revolver clattered to the floor from under his coat.

CHAPTER XLIII.

NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS.

The following is taken from the Prince George Star, January 19, 19—.  Extra.

NOT GUILTY!

At 7.53 P.M. the jury in the trial of Ambrose Doane for treason-felony returned a verdict of not guilty without leaving their seats.  This was a foregone conclusion.  Upon issuing from the courthouse the acquitted man received an immense ovation from the waiting crowd.

From the Prince George Star, January 24, 19—­:  Editorial.

THE REAL CRIMINAL!

Now that the trial of Ambrose Doane is a thing of the past, a tragic miscarriage of justice happily averted, and the excitement abated, it is time for the thoughtful to examine into the underlying causes of the trouble at Fort Enterprise.

That there was serious trouble no one denies; but the general disposition is, since the innocent man is free and the guilty one dead by his own hand, to forget the whole matter.  Now is the time to take measures to make it impossible for anything of the kind to occur again.

Granting that Gordon Strange, that extraordinary character, played for high stakes, lost and paid—­was he the sole criminal?  What sort of conditions were they up there that made it possible for him to engineer his unique schemes of villainy?

For years the arrogant policy and the unscrupulous methods of the great corporation that holds the north of our province in thrall have been matters of common gossip in the streets.  But no man has dared to raise his voice.