ace--first to Sacramento, then to San Francisco,
then over the Sierras to the mining camps of Nevada, then through Utah
and Wyoming, till at last he found himself in jail in St. Louis.

There, three years after the murder, he found his old pal J. C. P.
Collins--but how changed! Could that coarse and bloated countenance
belong to the fastidious and pleasure-loving Collins?

"Well, Collins, I hardly knew you. How does the grub here compare with
what we used to get at Carter's boarding-house?" O'Leary referred to the
jail at Nevada City.

"This must be your first week in St. Louis," replied Collins, "if you
haven't put up at this hotel before. Been caught stealing again, I
suppose?"

"That's me. Only the matter of a lady's purse that was of no use to
her."

"Well, women are the cause of all my trouble. They drag a man down worse
than drink. They are a bad lot, are women."

"Why, you're a regular preacher, ain't you? You used to be a ladies'
man."

"That was in California."

"How's the wild and woolly?" asked Collins, presently, looking his old
pal over contemptuously.

"Oh, I know I ain't stylish like you Eastern dudes. I'm a honest miner,
I am. And I don't wear boiled shirts like you."

"You're honest, all right. We'll leave that to Sheriff Carter. Remember
how he caught you stealing that Chinaman's dust? I can see that
Chinaman's sign now: 'Heekee & Co., Gold Dust Bought.' By the way,
what's become of my old flame back there?"

"Oh, a lady? I don't remember no ladies that was acquainted with gents
like us."

"I don't reckon you know the girl I mean. She wasn't in your class,
that's a fact."

"Maybe I can tell you if you'll just say her name."

"Well, I'm inquiring after Miss Mamie Slocum, the sweetest little girl
in Nevada City."

"You're joking, sure. That girl never had any use for the likes of you.
Mat Bailey would knock your head off if he heard you breathe her name."

"Insult me as much as you like. 'No fighting' is the rules of this
hotel. I asked you, how is that little girl? Sweet on Mat Bailey, is
she? Well, I'm glad of it."

"Yes; she and Mat have been good friends ever since Will Cummins was
killed."

"So? How's that?"

"Why, you know she came down on the stage that day, and saw it all. Some
say she knew the robbers and helped them find Cummins' bullion. I guess
Mat was in the deal, too. Anyhow, she and Mat have been good friends
ever since, as I tell you."

"Now look here, O'Leary