ad overpowered. He had not supposed
that anyone would be killed. Things had turned out in a strange and
terrible way. To gain a few thousand dollars by highway robbery was no
worse than to win it by a dozen other methods counted respectable. Among
the youth of Nevada City with whom he had associated, it was commonly
believed that every successful man in town had done something crooked at
some time in his career--that life was nothing but a gamble anyhow, and
that a little cheating might sometimes help a fellow.

When he had learned, some months before, how greatly Mamie admired Will
Cummins, he had thought it good policy to pretend a like admiration.
While the girl was in Graniteville, away from her parents, he had seen
her as often as he could, and had, he was sure, acted the part of a
chivalrous gentleman. He had referred to his jail record in such a
magnanimous way as to win her admiration and sympathy. And he had been
magnanimous toward Cummins. He had stoutly maintained that even
gentlemen of the road are men of honor, incapable of petty meanness,
merely taking by force from some money-shark what was rightfully theirs
by virtue of their being gentlemen. Therefore, he argued, no
self-respecting highwayman would rob a man like Will Cummins--the merest
hint that property belonged to him would be sufficient to protect it. He
had waxed eloquent over the matter.

He was now appalled to think how his argument, though insincere, had
been refuted. That Mamie had spoken those fatal words was not a ruse of
his but an inexplicable accident. How could he ever see the girl again?
And yet, in this one respect he was innocent, and he wished she might
know it. Besides, he was man enough to sympathize with her in her awful
predicament. With what horror she must be thinking of her part in the
tragedy! There was considerable generosity in his nature, and he
actually debated, criminal though he was, whether he might not better
let Darcy keep the loot and stand by Mamie.

The girl or the gold? Is it surprising that the decision of J. C. P.
Collins was similar to that of other Californians? Similar to Cummins',
for example? He decided to make sure of the gold first and to think
about the girl later. With six or eight thousand dollars in the bank he
would be a more valuable friend than a poor man could be. After this
affair had blown over, and he recalled the fact that Doc Mason had
performed eleven autopsies on murdered men in the last