e I got pinched."

"Did you expect to find gold near the Golden Crest?"

"We thought it worth the try."

"You know better now, don't you?"

Curly made no reply, but kept his eyes fixed upon the floor.

"It seems to me that you were prospecting for something more valuable
than gold, weren't you?" Weston queried.

"What do you mean?" and Curly lifted his head.

"You were prospecting for a woman, and that woman happens to be my
daughter. Deny it, if you dare."

"I do deny it," Curly stoutly protested. "Your daughter is nothing to
me."

Jim Weston's right hand toyed with a paper-weight on his desk, and his
eyes gleamed with anger.

"You lie, Curly, and you know it," he charged. "You have had your foul
eyes upon my daughter ever since you first saw her. You have declared
over and over again that one day she would be yours."

Curly's face grew livid, and he tried to speak. But Weston lifted his
hand.

"Wait until I am through," he thundered. "Have you not used my
daughter's name very often while gambling? And did you not bet a short
time ago at Big Draw that you would cross the Golden Crest and lure my
daughter to a fate worse than death? You know it is true, and yet you
have the impudence to stand here and deny it."

Curly's eyes were again fixed upon the floor, and he made no reply to
this accusation. His terror of this man was becoming great. How did
he know so much? he asked himself.

"Now, what should be done to a thing like you?" Weston continued.
"Your record is well known, not only here but all along the coast. No
innocent woman or girl is safe when you are around, and you are a
menace to any community. You leave the marks of your filthy trail
wherever you go. And you are not alone in your villainous deeds, for
there are others just like you, who defy the laws of God and man. So
far you have escaped, but now you shall pay for your vile and cowardly
acts. It would be a sin to allow a creature like you to remain at
large. It is far better to settle with you immediately and thus make
you incapable of doing more harm in the future. You took it upon
yourself to enter Glen West to ruin my daughter, and you must abide by
the result."

Curly fully understood the meaning of these words, and his face
blanched with terror. He lifted his eyes and tried to speak. But
intelligible words failed to come, for he was almost paralyzed with
fear.

"Death is too good a punishment for you," Weston r