otel in some capacity, and went out with us to
dinner after a moment's talk, and I found him to be a pleasant talker,
with a ready fund of the slang which seems to be the evolving language
of the Far West, and a very witty use of it; but he did not seem to be
well informed on any subject that I could mention, a strong contrast
to the scholarship of the dead man whose face he bore.

Yet he had an unmistakable air of good breeding, and even of
intelligence, although it was impossible to draw him into a connected
conversation. He seemed to be very popular in the house.

Howard was closely engaged in his work, which sometimes kept him away
for a week at a time, and I had neither the strength nor courage to
go very far from the house alone, through that odd, rushing,
foreign-looking town, so I had much time to myself. I was the only
woman at the house except the proprietor's wife and one Irish
chambermaid. This, perhaps, would account for my interest in the
young man, for I must confess that he occupied my thoughts a good
deal during those first weeks. One Sabbath afternoon I saw him going
away with a party of friends--stylishly dressed, hard-looking men,
and I turned and spoke to Howard of the idea that I had formed of
him.

"I have thought of the same thing myself, mother," he replied. "That
fellow is of Eastern origin, and he is well brought up, in spite of
his efforts to conceal it. And you can't get a word out of him about
his past. I've tried a dozen times. I'm positive that he puts on
ignorance a good many times, just as a blind. There's a good deal of
that here--men who have forgotten all about the East, you understand,
and who have new names, and who don't write home by every mail. Now,
weren't there other Mansfield boys besides Chester? His mother was a
second wife, wasn't she, and there was another family who lived with
their grandmother?"

"Why, certainly there was!" I exclaimed, catching at the idea. "Three
boys, and two of them went out to Denver, or somewhere in that region.
Now I have it--that's just who he is. I wonder what crime he has
committed--robbery, or perhaps murder--who knows?"

"Oh, no! Take care, not quite so fast, mother. But I have a little
clue that nobody else has had the interest to notice. It is more than
mere coincidence. Of course Doctor Mansfield's sons would be brought
up in the deepest piety, and when this fellow gets drunk--you'll hear
him some night--he's terribly pious; prays a