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an extremely astute young woman, both in trade and international politics."
I was surprised. "I did hear," I admitted, "that she was well spoken of ..."
"You heard correctly, sir. Miss Majoribanks," he said dryly, "was trained in
a very thorough way by one of the shrewdest minds in the country. I hope she
will see fit to call on me while here."
For a moment I had nothing to say, and suddenly all notions of plots began to
seem rather childish. Yet one thing remained.
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"You do not think it strange that the steamboat did not dock at St. Louis?
That it proceeded upstream to what is, in effect, a hiding place?"
He frowned momentarily. "Yes," he admitted, "that does seem a bit strange.
But no doubt they have their reasons."
"And Foulsham was murdered while carrying information about such a plot?"
"I know of that only from you. I have no reason to doubt your word, but on
the other hand, many men are murdered while traveling."
He got to his feet. "It has been pleasant, Mr. Talon, but I have other
duties. You will excuse me?"
I went out and stood in the store, watching the people, yet thinking of
everything else. Was I a fool then? How much, really, did I know?
Macklem was known here, and he was liked. He had, if he was a plotter, laid
his groundwork very well.
Suddenly, I thought of my own situation. What was I doing here? What had
prompted me to leave a good job one in which I might soon have become owner or
part-owner of a steamboat or a boat yard and come off to this far place?
I felt like a fool, a colossal fool. I should have stayed in Pittsburgh,
building boats.
"Quite an odd lot, aren't they?"
Startled, I turned to see a young man beside me, a slender, rather handsome
young man with a nicely boned, aristocratic-looking face. He indicated the
passers-by. "I wanted to see this. I had to see it. Now that I see it, I find
it hard to believe ... the redskins and all."
"This is their country," I commented ironically. "You should expect to find
them here."
"Oh, but I did! I expected it. I knew they would be here. Why, we used to
play Red Indians when I was a child in England, but to know I am here is
something different."
He turned and extended a hand. "I am Donald McQuarrie. I am trying to get on
with one of the fur companies ... with Choteau, if he'll have me."
"My name is Talon," I said.
He nodded. "So I was told."
"Told?" I stared at him.
"Mr. Choteau told me who you were, what you looked like. He said I should
talk to you."
"I am not a fur trader. I've no jobs to offer," I said, "and my meeting with
Mr. Choteau was very brief. I do not believe he was much impressed."
"On the contrary." McQuarrie watched the crowd, his eyes alert and busy. "The
Choteaus have been around for a long, long time, Mr. Talon, and will be around
for a longer time still. There's talent in the blood, and a good deal of
native shrewdness.
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"You see," he paused, "I'd been to see him just before you, and about much
the same thing."
For a moment what he said did not register. "Much the same thing?"
"I followed you west, and, I might say, had a devil of a time at it. When you
travel, you do not waste time. You just about succeeded in losing me a couple
of times."
"You followed us?"
"You ... yes, I did. You see, when Simon Tate reached Boston, I was there.
The gentleman to whom he went on arrival was a friend of mine, and I had let
him know why I was in America. He let me see the papers Tate had, and Tate
told me of you, so here I am."
"Might I ask why?"
"Obvious, is it not? I want Macklem. I want him very badly indeed. Most of
all, I want Torville."
"There is a connection then?"
He glanced at me. "Of course. You see, we don't like Torville. He's a
dangerous, completely unscrupulous man. He has betrayed the French, and he has
betrayed us. He has no loyalty but to himself. Now he is here."
McQuarrie was quiet, sincere. He talked well and he made sense of a kind, yet
I did not trust him. But then, I am not usually a trusting man, and inclined
to be wary of strangers. This one was apparently British, and he had that
manner that one recognizes as a product of the better schools, and we saw a
lot of that sort of thing in Canada. Many of our most and least successful
pioneers had been retired British officers.
"I know you no more than Choteau knew me," I said.
"I am a brother officer of Captain Robert Foulsham. In fact, he was a year or
two ahead of me in school. We were on the same mission, actually."
He glanced at me. "Ever hear of Lord Selkirk?"
"Of course."
"He established a colony west of the Great Lakes, if you'll recall."
"I know the story. It was attacked, some said by the Indians ... I have
forgotten the details. But wasn't it nearly destroyed?"
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