himself, but so changed and
haggard that I scarcely knew him. I instantly ran out into the hall
and vestibule, but when I reached the porch he had disappeared. Either
he had seen me and wished to avoid me, or he had encountered the object
of his quest, which I at once concluded must be Lacy Bassett. I was so
much impressed and worried by his appearance and manner, that, in this
belief, I overcame my aversion to meeting Bassett, and even sought him
through the public rooms and lobbies in the hope of finding Captain Jim
with him. But in vain; possibly he had succeeded in escaping his
relentless friend.

As the wind and rain increased at nightfall and grew into a tempestuous
night, with deserted streets and swollen waterways, I did not go out
again, but retired early, inexplicably haunted by the changed and
brooding face of Captain Jim. Even in my dreams he pursued me in his
favorite likeness of a wistful, anxious, and uneasy hound, who, on my
turning to caress him familiarly, snapped at me viciously, and appeared
to have suddenly developed a snarling rabid fury. I seemed to be
awakened at last by the sound of his voice. For an instant I believed
the delusion a part of my dream. But I was mistaken; I was lying broad
awake, and the voice clearly had come from the next room, and was
distinctly audible over the transom.

"I've had enough of it," he said, "and I'm givin' ye now--this
night--yer last chance. Quit this hotel and that woman, and go back to
Gilead and marry Polly. Don't do it and I'll kill ye, ez sure ez you
sit there gapin' in that chair. If I can't get ye to fight me like a
man,--and I'll spit in yer face or put some insult onto you afore that
woman, afore everybody, ez would make a bigger skunk nor you
turn,--I'll hunt ye down and kill ye in your tracks."

There was a querulous murmur of interruption in Lacy's voice, but
whether of defiance or appeal I could not distinguish. Captain Jim's
voice again rose, dogged and distinct.

"Ef YOU kill me it's all the same, and I don't say that I won't thank
ye. This yer world is too crowded for yer and me, Lacy Bassett. I've
believed in ye, trusted in ye, lied for ye, and fought for ye. From
the time I took ye up--a feller-passenger to 'Fresco--believin' there
wor the makin's of a man in ye, to now, you fooled me,--fooled me afore
the Eureka boys; fooled me afore Gilead; fooled me afore HER; fooled me
afore God! It's got to end here. Ye've got to take