If Payne has come in, tell him I want him." The trooper went out, and when his comrade came in, Stimson laid a strip of paper before him.

"You have seen Courthorne's writing," he said: "would you call it anything like that ?" "No, sir," said Trooper Payne.

"I would not!" Stimson nodded.

"Take a good horse, and ride round by the bridge.

If you find Courthorne there, as you probably will, head for the settlement and see if you can come across a man who might pass for him.
Ask your questions as though the answer didn't count, and tell nobody what you hear but me." Payne rode out, and when he returned three days later, Sergeant Stimson made a journey to confer with one of his superiors.