I do not
pretend to fathom. Perhaps, you pity him; I cannot tell. Now, you wonder
why I wish to have Landis in my care if I do not intend to put an end to
him and thereby become owner of his mines? I shall tell you frankly. I
intend to own the mines, if not through the death of Jack, then through
a legal act signed by the hand of Jack."

"A willing signature?" asked Donnegan, calmly.

A shadow came and went across the face of the colonel, and Donnegan
caught his breath. There were times when he felt that if the colonel
possessed strength of body as well as strength of mind even he,
Donnegan, would be afraid of the fat man.

"Willing or unwilling," said the colonel, "he shall do as I direct!"

"Without force?"

"Listen to me," said the colonel. "You and I are not children, and
therefore we know that ordinary men are commanded rather by fear of what
may happen to them than by being confronted with an actual danger. I
have told you that I shall not so much as raise the weight of a finger
against Jack Landis. I shall not. But a whisper adroitly put in his ear
may accomplish the same ends." He added with a smile. "Personally, I
dislike physical violence. In that, Mr. Donnegan, we belong to opposite
schools of action."

The picture came to Donnegan of Landis, lying in the cabin of the
colonel, his childish mind worked upon by the devilish insinuation of
the colonel. Truly, if Jack did not go mad under the strain he would be
very apt to do as the colonel wished.

"I have made a mess of this from the beginning," said Donnegan, quietly.
"In the first place, I intended to play the role of the
self-sacrificing. You don't understand? I didn't expect that you would.
In short, I intended to send Landis back to Lou by making a flash that
would dazzle The Corner, and dazzle Nelly Lebrun as well--win her away
from Landis, you see? But the fool, as soon as he saw that I was
flirting with the girl, lowered his head and charged at me like a bull.
I had to strike him down in self-defense.

"But now you ask me to put him wholly in your possession. Colonel, you
omit one link in your chain of reasoning. The link is important--to me.
What am I to gain by placing him within the range of your whispering?"

"Tush! Do I need to tell you? I still presume you are interested in Lou,
though you attempted to do so much to give Landis back to her. Well,
Donnegan, you must know that when she learns it was a bullet from your
gun that struck dow