d now they
sat side by side before the tent and still she asked no questions about
what was to come.

Her silence was to Donnegan the dropping of the water upon the hard
rock. He was crumbling under it, and a wild hatred for the colonel rose
in him. No doubt that spirit of evil had foreseen all this; and he knew
that every moment spent with the girl would drive Donnegan on closer to
the accomplishment of the colonel's great purpose--the death of Jack
Landis. For the colonel, as Jack's next of kin, would take over all his
mining interests and free them at a stroke from the silent partnership
which apparently existed with Lord Nick and Lester. One bullet would do
all this: and with Jack dead, who else stood close to the girl? It was
only necessary that she should not know who sped the bullet home.

A horrible fancy grew up in Donnegan, as he sat there, that between him
and the girl lay a dead body.

He was glad when the time came and he could tell her that he was going
down to The Corner to find Jack Landis and bring him to her. She rose to
watch him go and he heard her say "Come soon!"

It shocked Donnegan into realization that for all her calm exterior she
was perfectly aware of the danger of her position in the wild mining
camp. She must know, also, that her reputation would be compromised; yet
never once had she winced, and Donnegan was filled with wonder as he
went down the hill toward the camp which was spread beneath him; for
their tents were a little detached from the main body of the town.
Behind her gentle eyes, he now felt, and under the softness of her
voice, there was the same iron nerve that was in her father. Her hatred
could be a deathless passion, and her love also; and the great question
to be answered now was, did she truly love Jack Landis?

The Corner at night was like a scene at a circus. There was the same
rush of people, the same irregular flush of lights, the same glimmer of
lanterns through canvas, the same air of impermanence. Once, in one of
those hushes which will fall upon every crowd, he heard a coyote wailing
sharply and far away, as though the desert had sent out this voice to
mock at The Corner and all it contained.

He had only to ask once to discover where Landis was: Milligan's dance
hall. Before Milligan's place a bonfire burned from the beginning of
dusk to the coming of day; and until the time when that fire was
quenched with buckets of water, it was a sign to all that the mer