YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
SCRIBNER S POPULAR SERIES OF 
 
 COPYRIGHT NOVELS 
 
 WILLIAM WALDORF ASTOR . VALENTINO: AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE 
 
 ARLO BATES A WHEEL OF FIRE 
 
 H. H. BOYESEN FALCONBERG 
 
 MRS. BURNETT THAT LASS o LOWRIE S 
 
 " " ..... VAGABONDIA: A LOVE STORY 
 
 G. W. CABLE JOHN MARCH, SOUTHERNER 
 
 EDITH CARPENTER YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 EDWARD EGGLESTON THE CIRCUIT RIDER 
 
 HAROLD FREDERIC ...... THE LAWTON GIRL 
 
 ROBERT GRANT FACE TO FACE 
 
 MARION HARLAND . . JUDITH: A CHRONICLE OF OLD VIRGINIA 
 JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS . . FREE JOE AND OTHER SKETCHES 
 
 JULIAN HAWTHORNE A FOOL OF NATURE 
 
 J. G. HOLLAND . . . SEVENOAKS: A STORY OF TO-DAY 
 
 " . . THE BAY PATH: A TALE OF COLONIAL LIFE 
 " . . ARTHUR BONNICASTLE: AN AMERICAN STORY 
 
 Miss GILBERT S CAREER 
 
 " NICHOLAS MINTURN 
 
 COM R J. D. J. KELLEY A DESPERATE CHANCE 
 
 G. P. LATHROP AN ECHO OF PASSION 
 
 JULIA MAGRUDER ACROSS THE CHASM 
 
 BRANDER MATTHEWS ..... THE LAST MEETING 
 DONALD G. MITCHELL DREAM LIFE 
 
 " .... REVERIES OF A BACHELOR 
 
 HOWARD PYLE WITHIN THE CAPES 
 
 " Q " (A. T. QuiLLER-CoUCH) . . . THE SPLENDID SPUR 
 
 ... THE DELECTABLE DUCHY 
 
 R. L. STEVENSON . THE| EBB-TIDE 
 
 " TREASURE ISLAND 
 
 " " ....... THE WRONG Box 
 
 F.J. STIMSON GUERNDALE 
 
 FRANK R. STOCKTON .... RUDDER GRANGE 
 
 " . THE LADY OR THE TIGER 
 
YOUR MONEY OR 
 YOUR LIFE 
 
 A STORY 
 
 BY 
 
 EDITH CARPENTER 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER S SONS 
 NEW YORK 1899 
 
Copyright, 1896, by 
 Charles Scribner s Sons 
 
 MANHATTAN PRfSS 
 
 474 W. BROADWAY 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
n ~ c 
 
 I / A 
 
 s-f C- 
 
 5 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I FACE 
 
 MUTINY, 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 THE COST OF MONEY, n 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING, 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 A QUESTION OF COURAGE, 53 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE, 71 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 FAIR LADY, 90 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 A QUIET LITTLE GAME, 109 
 
 M57515G 
 
vi CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII PAGE 
 
 BLUFF, 131 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 A CHOICE OF THREE, 153 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 THE DEN OF THIEVES, 178 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 A PRISONER, 200 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 THE PROOF OF COURAGE, 223 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 THE LAW S COURSE 255 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW, .... 293 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE? 334 
 
NOTE 
 
 "Your Money or Your Life" obtained 
 the prize of $1,000 in the story competi 
 tion instituted by The New York Herald 
 in 1895 
 
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR 
 LIFE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 MUTINY 
 
 Tom Norrie sat at his desk in the great 
 office, with his hands thrust deep in his 
 pockets and his eyes lost in space. All 
 about him men were hard at work, trying to 
 clear off the accumulations of the day in the 
 brief hours left before the day should end. 
 The office boys ran to and fro, and the type 
 writer girls were rattling their machines as if 
 on a race for a stake. Through the whole 
 great room sounded the murmurous hum of 
 work the scratching of pens, the rustling 
 of paper, the low consultations between one 
 clerk and another, the slamming together of 
 the big books on the bookkeepers desks, the 
 steady reiteration of the stamping-machines 
 putting their hall-marks on the checks and 
 bills and letters of the day. 
 
2 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 In at the windows, flung wide to ease the 
 oppressive heat, came the reverberant noises 
 of the street, increasing thunderously to 
 drown the lesser murmur of the office as 
 some heavy brewer s dray went pounding by, 
 then lulled to a momentary, low drone, 
 above which could be heard each movement 
 within. Across the street the brick build 
 ings were blinding in the full sunshine, and 
 men passed in their white shirt-sleeves, puff 
 ing, and mopping their faces. Yet the glare 
 and dust and heat were not those of mid 
 summer ; even in the heart of the city the 
 breeze that now and then fluttered through 
 the windows, making a quick stir over all the 
 desks, and cooling the hot heads of toiling 
 clerks, brought with it the breath of spring, 
 almost an odor of the fields and woods, a 
 moving suggestion of new life and vigor and 
 gladness. 
 
 Tom Nome s desk was a confusion of 
 loose papers the letters of the morning, 
 with their typewritten answers now waiting 
 his approval, bills and orders to be passed 
 upon, a small pile of checks to be signed, 
 plans and specifications for the new factories 
 to be gone through, a hundred matters that 
 pressed for his speedy notice. His was that 
 
MUTINY 3 
 
 orderly business habit that tolerated no 
 postponement. One day s work put off un 
 til another kept him awake at night and 
 gave him a feverish impetus wherewith to 
 put twelve hours work into the next day s 
 nine. Many things had worried him of late, 
 but nothing worried him so much as ragged 
 edges of unfinished business. He made in his 
 thoughts, instinctively, a picture of each day, 
 as it passed, and the pictures of those days 
 when he did not do all that was brought him 
 to do were like untidy rooms, comfortless and 
 dismal, or like a shiftless garden where the 
 peas slopped into the beans, and the beans 
 trailed into the strawberries, and weeds grew 
 everywhere. He took charge himself of the 
 garden at the family country place a garden 
 concealed by hedges and vine-covered trel 
 lises, and divided into the most exact of rec 
 tangular beds, with the straightest of neat 
 paths between. Many unfortunate gardeners 
 and gardeners boys had been parted with 
 because their conceptions of their art placed 
 the welfare of the garden s contents above 
 the perfectness of the garden s form. But 
 to Tom Norrie order had come to be more 
 than the heart of the matter, whether in hor 
 ticulture or business, and in his grinding 
 
4 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 at detail he had lost his larger sense of the 
 plan. 
 
 Yet to-day his desk lay piled with papers, 
 and he sat inert before it, with his hands in 
 his pockets. It was long after three. An 
 office boy brought more papers and laid 
 them before him, and looked at him with 
 round eyes of astonishment. The afternoon 
 mail was placed upon his desk, but appeared 
 to concern him not at all. When the breeze 
 came in he sniffed it absently, and this was 
 the only sign of life he gave. The clerks 
 near by began to look at him, and then at 
 each other furtively, with little smiles. 
 Their young chief had gone out at eleven, 
 and had not come back until after two ; yet 
 in the hour or more since that he had sat 
 there at his desk, with various important 
 matters delayed till he should give them his 
 notice, he had not lifted a hand to his work. 
 They looked in through the glass walls of the 
 private office, where sat the two senior part 
 ners, and wondered when this curious aber 
 ration would receive its fitting attention from 
 headquarters. 
 
 Tom Norrie sniffed the breeze, and pres 
 ently, catching an odor foreign to it, he too 
 turned his head he had not stirred before 
 
MUTINY 5 
 
 for an hour and looked into that inner 
 sanctum. His father, a pale, spare man, ner 
 vous, yet silent, was bending busily over his 
 desk with his back towards the office. The 
 other partner was stout, but very tall, with 
 heavy black hair and mustache and a scowling 
 brow a physical make-up that fully justified 
 the nickname of "Bull," by which he was 
 known to his subordinates. His name, be 
 sides, was Trumbull, and his function in the 
 partnership was to originate all new schemes, 
 and to increase the already enormous busi 
 ness as much as the cautious conservatism 
 of his partner, the "Bear," would permit. 
 The Bull had just taken off his thin office 
 coat and with his red face in high contrast 
 to his white shirt - sleeves, sat smoking a 
 cigar for the relief of his overheated bulk. 
 Tom Norrie, too, liked a cigar, but it was 
 one of the rules of the office that no smoking 
 should be done outside the glass partition. 
 For four years now he had been a partner, 
 yet still was given no more liberty than when 
 he first entered the office, a boy of twenty- 
 one. The Bull and the Bear were both au 
 tocrats in the first degree, their difference 
 being that one was a blustering, progressive 
 autocrat, and the other a quiet, retrogres- 
 
6 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 sive one. The unlikeness of their methods 
 was followed by perfect likeness in results 
 neither was ever disobeyed. The clerks in 
 the employ of Norrie, Trumbull & Co., one 
 or two of them now men of fifty and sixty, 
 lived a life of terror and suppression, and 
 were treated like insubordinate boys in a 
 boarding-school. They all derived some 
 comfort from the fact that Thomas Norris, 
 Jr. , was no better off than they, and looked 
 on with discreet pleasure when now and 
 then he fell foul of the authorities and met at 
 their hands his merited chastisement. 
 
 But to-day, when the young man had 
 sniffed for a moment the pleasing odor of 
 the Bull s excellent cigar, he drew one from 
 his own pocket and calmly lit it. As he 
 smoked he resumed his contemplations, and 
 the office, thrilled with excitement by his 
 foolhardy act, was obliged to keep at work 
 when that act was followed only by calm. 
 Yet those whose desks were nearest the pri 
 vate room soon became aw are of signs of un 
 easiness within, and this significant fact was 
 quickly transmitted from one to another by 
 meaning flashes of the eye. The Bull was 
 roused at last. He saw Tom s cigar, he saw 
 his heaped-up desk, he saw the young man s 
 
MUTINY 7 
 
 hands in his pockets. The atmosphere of the 
 office became, as it were, charged with ner 
 vous anticipation of the upheaval to follow, 
 but Tom smoked on, all unconscious, appar 
 ently, of these electric omens in the air. 
 Presently the Bull rose and stalking forth 
 from his fastness stopped at Tom s desk. 
 Tom, tilted back in his chair, did not change 
 his position nor remove his hands from his 
 pockets, but regarded Mr. TrumbuH s frown 
 ing face with perfect serenity. 
 
 " Aie you going to have time this after 
 noon to see the Slosson Company about their 
 orders? " growled the elder man. 
 
 " No, I don t think I am," replied Tom, 
 sweetly. He looked straight in the Bull s 
 face with a pleasant smile. 
 
 "It s the most serious affair you ve got on 
 hand. While you re twirling your thumbs 
 Roberts will get in ahead and get the or 
 ders." 
 
 "I m in no hurry," said Tom. "I m 
 willing Roberts should get the orders if he 
 wants them I ve something more important 
 to do," he added after a moment. 
 
 / You d better be about it then." The 
 Bull s voice had an ominous sound. 
 
 "I m going to when I ve finished my ci- 
 
8 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 gar," returned Tom, tranquilly. " Hot 
 day, isn t it? Good day to get into the 
 country. 
 
 The Bull said nothing. He merely glared 
 at Tom with an expression that suggested 
 biting his head off. Then he went across 
 the room, by rows of trembling clerks, who 
 bent busily over their desks as he passed, and 
 blew up the head bookkeeper, until the whole 
 office turned pale and the smoke of warfare 
 was almost visible. As he returned, his face 
 redder than ever, he looked again at Tom s 
 desk. 
 
 " Merriam," he called out to a man near 
 the back of the room, come over here and 
 do Mr. Nome s work for him. He has some 
 thing more important to do." 
 
 " Oh, thanks," said Tom, urbanely, while 
 Merriam rose and stood hesitating. " That s 
 very kind, Mr. Trumbull. It would be a 
 convenience to have Merriam do my work 
 this afternoon. I ve got to go out in a 
 minute." 
 
 Merriam came and stood by his desk. 
 
 " Just wait a minute," said Tom, and with 
 the Bull still glaring at him from the door of 
 the private office, he pushed the papers before 
 him aside, leaned forward, and wrote a brief 
 
MUTINY 9 
 
 note. He rose as he finished it, put it in 
 his pocket, and flung away his cigar. "You ll 
 find plenty to do there, Merriam," he said 
 to the old confidential clerk, who stood pale 
 and patient, looking down at the cluttered 
 papers. " You d better have Atchison leave 
 his estimates and help you, or it ll take you 
 all night." 
 
 The young man took his hat from the rack 
 and went into the private office. The Bull 
 stood by his desk, his face like a thunder 
 cloud, but Tom had the air of not seeing 
 him. " Just tell the girls not to expect me 
 to-night, will you, father ? " he said. "I m 
 not going home." His father, who had 
 been too busy to take in the events of the 
 previous ten minutes, looked up in surprise. 
 
 Where are you bound for at this time of 
 day? " he inquired, pertinently. 
 
 The Bull pricked up his ears for the an 
 swer. 
 
 " I m going for a Turkish bath," said 
 Tom, in a clear and tranquil voice. 
 " Beastly hot day." 
 
 His father gasped for speech. So did the 
 Bull. The whole office had heard through 
 the open door, and shivered and thrilled 
 with emotion. 
 
io YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 "I wouldn t stay and work too long," 
 said Tom, in the same clear voice, to the 
 Bull and Bear. " It s too hot to work. 
 Better give the office a holiday." 
 
 With that he left them, stopped a moment 
 at his desk to speak again to Merriam and 
 give him his keys, then walked to the door. 
 
 " Tom ! " called his father, weak with as 
 tonishment, but Tom did not look round. 
 
 "Nome!" thundered the Bull in his 
 deepest tones, starting after him. 
 
 But Tom walked on into the street, as if 
 he heard nothing, and the Bull halted mid 
 way to the door, then turned back hastily 
 and ignominiously to his sanctum, while a 
 suppressed smile of joy and triumph lit the 
 face of every clerk in the room. Tom 
 passed by the windows, whistling lightly a 
 popular song. He did not look in, but they 
 all looked out at him even the Bull and 
 Bear and as he was not visible again for 
 many weary work days to the firm of Norrie, 
 Trumbull & Co., they none of them forgot 
 how boyish and nonchalant and gay he 
 looked as he went along the street that hot 
 afternoon of early spring " the hottest 
 April day in twenty-five years," as they all 
 learned later from their evening papers. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE COST OF MONEY 
 
 Upon leaving behind him the plate-glass 
 windows of the great money-getting prison 
 where he had spent in drudgery eight of the 
 best years of his life, Tom Norrie s first con 
 cern was to call up a messenger-boy. This 
 red-cheeked young rascal he despatched upon 
 his errand with a great particularity of ver 
 bal instructions to supplement the note he 
 had written. Then with his mind clear of 
 care, he walked on to the main thorough 
 fare of the busy city, and leisurely followed 
 that somewhat shabby street until he came 
 to the Turkish and Russian baths. After 
 some two hours he emerged, took the hansom 
 which waited in response to his telephone 
 call, and was driven to his club. Here, as 
 he alighted from the cab, an ancient negro 
 serving-man awaited him upon the pavement 
 
 " Well, Thaddeus, you got my message ? " 
 said Tom. 
 
12 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Yessir, an I done lef you t ings to de 
 station, Mr. Tom," replied Thaddeus, his 
 bald head of polished bronze bared to the 
 warm breezes. 
 
 "You re sure you got everything I shall 
 want ? 
 
 "Yessir; I berry par tic lar, Mr. Tom." 
 
 " And you kept your mouth shut ? " 
 
 "You knows I don do no talkin , Mr. 
 Tom," said Thaddeus, with dignity; 
 " specially to dem white ladies." 
 
 " Well, I m glad you ve a proper scorn 
 for their color, Thaddeus, said Tom with 
 a laugh, " though I wasn t aware that white 
 ladies of the kitchen were any more given 
 to conversation than black ones." 
 
 "If you don want you folks to know 
 what I been about, Mr. Tom, I better be 
 a-gettin back, afore you fader comes home 
 to his supper. 
 
 "All right, Thaddeus, and here s a re 
 tainer for your discretion. Mind, whatever 
 happens, you don t know anything about 
 me! " 
 
 ft I habn t seen or heard nuffin ob you 
 since I done gib you you breakfus dis morn- 
 in , Mr. Tom," declared Thaddeus, gravely 
 shaking his head. The fringe of short white 
 
THE COST OF MONEY 13 
 
 wool circling its bronze knob gave him a 
 venerable aspect, and in the gravity and age 
 of his countenance there was an expression 
 of great benevolence an expression possibly 
 heightened by the shining yellow disk that 
 lay in the copper -colored palm of his hand, 
 and which he regarded covertly, as if in fear 
 that it might not be all that its color and 
 size seemed to indicate. 
 
 " That s right," said Tom, laughing, as 
 he went up the club steps. 
 
 But Thaddeus did not yet go. " Mr. 
 Tom," he said at the foot of the steps. 
 Tom turned. "Well?" 
 " I I hope, Mr. Tom, you be careful ob 
 youse f." 
 
 " Why, yes, Thaddeus. Why should you 
 think I wouldn t? " said Tom, amused. 
 
 " You you s a fine young man, Mr. 
 Tom, dough I say it as shouldn t, since I 
 mos ly brought you up myse f. You don 
 want to begin now and do any ting you be 
 r,orry for. I notice dese last week or two 
 dat sumfin s up you ain t been youse f, Mr. 
 Tom." 
 
 " Oh, well, Thaddeus, I m all right ; you 
 needn t worry," said Tom, kindly. He 
 was touched at the old man s perception, 
 
14 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 and laughed a little bitterly at the thought 
 that Thaddeus was, without doubt, the only 
 person who had observed the phenomena of 
 his emotions. He diverted his mind, how 
 ever, from this rather melancholy reflection 
 by an intimate consultation with his favorite 
 waiter at the club as to what he should have 
 for his dinner. 
 
 " At seven o clock sharp," he said, when 
 this matter was settled to his satisfaction, 
 and he left the cafe. 
 
 "Mr. Nome s a very fine epicure," said 
 Ambrose, admiringly, to Philippe, as they 
 watched Tom down the steps. 
 
 "Yes," said Philippe, in the same tone, 
 to Ambrose. "And they say he s the 
 member that puts all the five dollar gold 
 pieces in the Christmas-box. Cooky ought 
 to look out for him." 
 
 " Cooky always does," returned Ambrose 
 as he went off to consult with that important 
 functionary. 
 
 Tom strolled up the wide street, in the 
 pleasant cool of the spring evening, until he 
 came to the railway station. He bought a 
 ticket for Chicago, took a drawing-room 
 section on the night train, and arranged 
 about the luggage which Thaddeus had left 
 
THE COST OF MONEY 15 
 
 for him. Then he strolled back as he had 
 come to the club, seeing no one, but lost in 
 his contemplations as he had been through 
 out the whole day. The evening papers had 
 no interest for him, and his friends were un 
 observed or barely nodded to. During the 
 hour that he waited for his dinner, he sat 
 by a window, in a luxurious low chair, gaz 
 ing up into the mellow tones of the twilight 
 sky ; and his silent but epicurean feast con 
 sumed, he returned to this chair, and sat 
 there with his cigar throughout the evening, 
 until it came time to go to the train, only be 
 stirring himself when one cigar was finished 
 and it became necessary to light another. 
 
 Tom Norrie had come that day to a mo 
 mentous decision, and now, in the light of 
 it, was reviewing his past life, considering 
 life in general, what its meaning was, and 
 what might make it worth while, and look 
 ing forward into his future first the im 
 mediate future, then all that lay beyond, 
 the years of his life yet to be lived. 
 
 He had been graduated from college at 
 twenty-one, had spent that summer abroad, 
 and had come home in September to plunge 
 at once into " the business " his father s 
 business and his grandfather s business, thp 
 
1 6 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 business of his two uncles now retired, and 
 of a crop of cousins, both younger and 
 older than himself. The young men of the 
 family were drawn into it one by one as 
 they grew up ; they had to leave pleasure 
 and self-improvement and all else behind, to 
 give their lives into the greedy maw of this 
 insatiable creature. Tom could think of it 
 in no other way but as a great devouring 
 beast, thirsting for human lives, sucking all 
 the sweetness and value out of them, taking 
 their youth, and strength and vigor, jeal 
 ously exacting every whit and giving what 
 in exchange? money miserable money, 
 bought with life-blood, paid for at usury, 
 and at a rate so high that nothing was left 
 with which to enjoy it. He had given so 
 much for his dollars that he despised them. 
 He had a thousand of them in his pocket 
 now, and he liked to throw them away, and 
 show himself how little they were worth 
 how lightly he estimated what he had given 
 his manhood for. 
 
 Yes, his manhood no less. He had 
 been a brave and happy boy, ready for 
 everything, afraid of nothing, full of inter 
 ests, eager for the tussle with life. He had 
 had his tussle and been broken. At twenty- 
 
THE COST OF MONEY 17 
 
 nine he was nervous and dyspeptic tired 
 out. He could not sleep at night, things 
 worried him. He was cautious, unwilling 
 to take risks, afraid of responsibility yes, 
 as Janet had told him, in so many words, 
 he, Tom Norrie, was a coward. He had 
 not seen it before she told him, nor would 
 he admit it to her ; but now, to himself, he 
 admitted it all. He was fussy, fidgety, 
 methodical, a very old granny in all his 
 habits and ways. 
 
 He had not been like that eight years ago 
 it was the business that had done it, the 
 great relentless creature that had ground him 
 down to its uses and ruined his life. He 
 thought of his college days, his gay life 
 with his comrades, his pleasures in the col 
 lege sports, his love of boating and riding 
 and all else that one could do in the great 
 out-of-doors. He was not an athlete, but he 
 was wiry, quick and dexterous, and had a 
 natural knack at handling himself and his 
 tool of the moment the boat, the horse, the 
 racket, or cricket-bat. Then, besides, he en 
 joyed his books he was no scholar, but 
 neither was he a dunce, and he liked read 
 ing and had great plans of what he would 
 do in that way when college was over and 
 2 
 
1 8 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 he had more time. He meant to travel, 
 too, and see life, and know the world. His 
 trip to Europe was in his mind but a fore 
 taste of future excursions in which he should 
 explore one country after another, and get 
 to know them intimately. He had the true 
 traveller s instinct an unflagging interest in 
 things new and strange, a quick eye for pict 
 uresque differences of costume or manner, a 
 delight in people in themselves, their indi 
 vidualities and eccentricities, a fine capacity 
 for not being at all annoyed by things that 
 at home would annoy him beyond measure, 
 and a capacity still greater for never being 
 bored. He had, too, in those days, an ad 
 venturous spirit he liked a sense of risk in 
 the undertaking, and the danger which 
 brought all his blood to his heart never 
 shook his nerve. Now well, he was an old 
 man before his time. The great relentless 
 machine that had taken all this from him, 
 crushed out the sap of the tree, and left a 
 lifeless pulp, had paid him in worthless dol 
 lars dollars that could not buy back a tithe 
 of what he had lost. 
 
 He could never forget the first process of 
 this change, the nightmare of his first year 
 in the business. Two days after his arrival 
 
THE COST OF MONEY 19 
 
 home from Europe his father sent him down 
 to the office, telling him he had played long 
 enough, that now he was a man, and life 
 and work must begin for him. He was at 
 once set to making out bills. He reached 
 the office at eight o clock, and made out 
 bills until half-past twelve. He had then an 
 hour for his dinner, and came back and 
 made out bills again until six. Then he 
 went home to supper, and was so fagged 
 with the unwonted confinement, nine hours 
 sitting at a desk, that he often went igno- 
 miniously to bed at half-past eight, or even 
 earlier. 
 
 " I shall soon get used to it," he thought, 
 hopefully. " Then I can read in my even 
 ings, and get on with the things I want to 
 do." 
 
 But it was not so easy, after all, to get 
 used to it. When two or three months 
 were gone he was still as sleepy and jaded 
 after each day s drudgery as he had been at 
 the start. His reading was uphill work, 
 and ended in yawns ; then he would throw 
 down the dry volume of history, and take a 
 novel, and lose himself in this if he could. 
 If he were only able to forget everything 
 for a few hours he did not mind how much 
 
20 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 sleep he lost, or how bad a headache he had 
 the next day. He longed for work with in 
 terest in it, something he could think about, 
 put mind and energy into, and thus get from 
 it some enjoyment. To make out bills all 
 day, every day, grew more and more ter 
 rible. It became perfectly mechanical, 
 mere hand and eye work, that left him 
 nine blank hours in which to think. It was 
 from his thoughts that he longed to get 
 away. " Is this to be the end of all my am 
 bitions ? " he asked himself. < Is all my life 
 to be like this ? Must I work away at busi 
 ness, business, the sordid details of money- 
 getting, till I am an old man ? Shall I grow 
 middle-aged and elderly doing this sort of 
 drudgery ? Shall I still be doing it, like my 
 father, when I am sixty ? Is that what life 
 means? Is that what I was born for, ed 
 ucated for ? What is the good ? What 
 makes it worth while? Why isn t it better 
 to die than be such a slave ? 
 
 His depression was terrible, and wholly 
 mastered him. He was unable to force him 
 self out of the dull silence of a fixed gloom. 
 His family thought he was sobering down 
 very quickly, but, busy with other things, 
 took little notice of his mood, and never un- 
 
THE COST OF MONEY 21 
 
 derstood the nightmare his life was to him 
 the intense loathing he had for his work and 
 all related to it. He was surrounded by the 
 commercial atmosphere. Business was 
 so much a matter of course to every one 
 about him that he knew he could hope for 
 no sympathy, and so kept his blue devils to 
 himself. Had not the family in all its 
 branches been made by business ? Was not 
 all they had due to it ? Did they not owe 
 to it not alone their life and breath, their 
 food and drink, but also their pleasure, their 
 position, everything ? Was not the very 
 city in which they lived redolent of busi 
 ness, flavored as it were with the essential 
 extract of trade, commercial to its marrow ? 
 How he hated it the narrow, ugly streets, 
 the flatness, the miles of brick houses, all 
 alike, all hideous, stretching into hideous 
 suburbs, where the brick boxes gave place to 
 architectural horrors in party-colored stone 
 a city of Philistinism, of vulgarity, rich 
 and poor confounded in one garment of sor 
 did mediocrity. 
 
 It seemed to him there could be no charm 
 or beauty in life amid such surroundings, 
 amid such a people. He let himself hate the 
 people together with the town they lived 
 
22 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 in. His real friends were his old college 
 mates, scattered now about the world, and 
 none near him. He made no new intimates 
 here. His cousins, whom he saw daily, were 
 objects of a fascinated contemplation with 
 him. What could they find in the dull rou 
 tine of their lives to make it possible to live, 
 and apparently be happy ? They seemed to 
 think of nothing but dollars, bargains, 
 shrewd transactions of one sort or another. 
 They had no ideas, and not feeling the lack 
 of them never even read books to assimilate 
 those of others. Their political anJ relig 
 ious opinions were to Tom bigoted anachro 
 nisms, impossible even of peaceable discus 
 sion. Their very wives, absorbed and worried 
 with housekeeping cares, and their children, 
 noisy, pert and forever underfoot, struck 
 this morbid youth as too vulgar and odious 
 to be endured. It seemed to him almost a 
 crime to perpetuate so much that was unlove 
 ly in large families of robust infants, who 
 would grow up to lead the same lives and 
 hand on the same dismal inheritance to suc 
 cessive generations. 
 
 But this year of misery and morbidness 
 passed at last. Tom received three hundred 
 dollars for his work ; and had, in July, two 
 
THE COST OF MONEY 23 
 
 weeks of vacation. How he looked forward 
 to that vacation ! What hopes he had of ease 
 and pleasure, of freshening his mind, tak 
 ing a new start, getting up his courage for 
 another year. He would rest a little first, 
 somewhere in grassy woods, far away from 
 the city, and all the city noise and turmoil. 
 Then, after a day or two lying on his back 
 under the trees and looking up through the 
 leaves at the clear sky, he would map out his 
 year before him, resolve to do certain work, 
 begin upon it then and there, and carry it 
 out in spite of all the sluggish weariness 
 that might beset him. He would not throw 
 his life away become a mere machine for 
 doing figures he would save a little of his 
 force for his own use, rescue his waning in 
 terests, and keep some life of his own beyond 
 the clutches of the greedy, jealous creature 
 that wanted all he had. 
 
 So he planned, looking forward to that 
 fortnight with an almost painful eagerness, 
 as to the only fountain in an arid desert 
 his only chance for life. It came at last, 
 and then in a mere instant it was gone, and 
 somehow he had done nothing. He could 
 never understand it. Was the reaction too 
 great after so many weeks of work ? Was his 
 
24 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 mind as flabby as he found his arm when he 
 tried to play at tennis ? It seemed to him 
 afterwards that those two weeks had gone in 
 a dream, mere dead lethargy, out of which 
 he could not lift himself. He had dropped to 
 the ground with a great sigh of relief, and 
 when he was able at last to rouse himself 
 the precious days were gone, the oasis was 
 behind him, the cruel desert before him, 
 and another long, dreary journey, for which 
 he had no heart. 
 
 This disappointment left him more dis 
 couraged than ever, and even the great relief 
 of a change in his work could not hearten 
 him. He no longer made bills all day every 
 day, yet the work he did do was as dead and 
 meaningless. Nine hours of it left him phy 
 sically too tired for anything but the light 
 est distraction in the evening, and hence the 
 seeking of such distraction became with him 
 a pursuit. If he could only forget what he 
 had expected life to be he might be able to 
 endure what it was ! 
 
 Thus he became gradually a club man, a 
 society man anything to occupy his time and 
 deaden his thoughts. The atmosphere of do 
 mesticity about his cousins, their too obvious 
 flavor of bread and butter, the suburban sor- 
 
THE COST OF MONEY 25 
 
 didness of their matrimonial joys, drove him 
 into revolt. By way of uttering his protest 
 against their provincial manners, he attired 
 himself nightly in evening costume and as 
 sumed so far as he might the habits of a 
 more cosmopolitan world. This immediately 
 brought upon him in the family circle the 
 accusation of being fast ; it was even darkly 
 hinted that he drank wine and was on his 
 way to become a cynical man of the world. 
 The futility of the charge was proved by the 
 young man s delight in it and his eagerness 
 to make the fact patent to all his relatives. 
 He made formal evening calls from time to 
 time at their houses, where he refused the 
 discomfort incident to being made "one of 
 the family," preferred the quiet of the stiff 
 little parlors to the hubbub of the general 
 sitting-rooms, ignored the children if they 
 were allowed to appear, and became silent 
 and changed the subject if they or the ser 
 vants or family gossip were introduced into 
 the conversation, which he insisted on keep 
 ing upon high general planes of literature, 
 music, and art. He admitted on these occa 
 sions grave doubts in regard both to mar 
 riage and religion, and delivered himself of 
 sundry cheap cynicisms about women, after 
 
26 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 what he thought the true manner of a real 
 man of the world. In short, for the time 
 being he forgot his sense of humor in this 
 worldly pose, while he succeeded only in 
 making himself extremely disagreeable. Per 
 haps, after all, the most obnoxious prig is the 
 modern sort, who rejects instead of uphold 
 ing the faith of his fathers and represents 
 himself as shocked by the old ideas instead 
 of by the new. For there may easily be " a 
 priggishness in avoiding priggishness ; when 
 men think to do best if they go furthest from 
 the priggishness formerly received." 
 
 But at least Tom s mind was occupied by 
 those doubtful pleasantries, nor was it long 
 before he began to see the ludicrous side of 
 taking himself so seriously. For as time 
 went on the first morbidness of his misery 
 inevitably passed away, and with the re 
 turn of a more healthy tone of mind his 
 really excellent sense of humor reasserted 
 itself. Humor is the basis of common sense, 
 and, indeed, of most of the virtues which 
 make people easy to live with, and their 
 own lives possible to themselves. Tom be 
 gan to see that it was necessary to occupy 
 himself fully in all his leisure moments, ra 
 tionally or irrationally, as the case might 
 
THE COST OF MONEY 27 
 
 be. The main thing was to be occupied, 
 and this, at last, he succeeded in accomplish 
 ing without the sense of working for it. He 
 got to know quantities of people he had 
 engagements with them, which he kept re 
 ligiously he gave importance to all sorts of 
 more or less trifling pursuits he became an 
 amateur connoisseur in etchings, old china 
 and bric-a-brac he grew more and more in 
 terested in the decoration of his apartments, 
 more and more fastidious about what he had 
 to eat, and more and more concerned over 
 the details of his attire. 
 
 Thus the days passed into months, and 
 the months into years, and Tom Norrie was 
 not an unhappy man, because no one who 
 is busy all the time can be unhappy. Some 
 leisure is necessary if one is to enjoy one s 
 melancholy, and Tom left himself never a 
 moment s leisure in his days, while each one 
 " brought its petty dust his soon-choked soul 
 to fill," and at times he almost forgot that 
 he had anything he wanted to forget. 
 
 Yet what a trivial unmeaning life it was, 
 if he ever did allow himself to stop for a 
 moment and think ! And it was impossible 
 not to drop the curb sometimes, and give 
 his thoughts free rein. Then all the nausea 
 
28 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 of that first year came back on him in full 
 force, and he asked himself again if this 
 was life. Should he grow old and gray in 
 this dull routine, this merely hand-to-mouth 
 existence, with no real purpose except to 
 make money enough to pay the bills con 
 tracted in the process of making the money ? 
 It was like the man who couldn t get along 
 without his horse, because he had to drive 
 five miles every fortnight to get oats to feed 
 him on. His own life seemed to him just as 
 illogical, just as ridiculous as that. 
 
 There was some consolation in the facts 
 that he was very successful in the work he 
 hated so, and that he had all the money he 
 wanted, and more. He had stuck so doggedly 
 at his tasks that he had mastered the detail 
 of the business with a swiftness that as 
 tonished his seniors. At twenty-five, though 
 he had never received from either his father 
 or Mr. Trumbull a word of encouragement 
 or praise, he suddenly found himself a part 
 ner, with a great income of his own. He 
 hated the money, yet he liked it, and he 
 spent it lavishly to help him forget that it 
 was after all only a bribe, the purchase- 
 money of his soul. He wondered vaguely 
 now and then that he made no move, that he 
 
THE COST OF MONEY 29 
 
 stayed on there so tamely, and took the bribe 
 each year ; but the question was answered 
 in the occupation of the next moment, and 
 then there was something else to do after that, 
 and so his life went on, one day at a time, 
 giving him little chance to think of such 
 troublesome things as the past and the future. 
 
 And then, finally, he met Janet Trumbull, 
 and everything took on a new color from 
 its association with her. Certainly he could 
 never have asked her to marry him if he 
 had not had plenty of money, and the money 
 came from the despised business. He began 
 to look back on those years of unhappiness 
 as his period of service for his Rachel bitter 
 service, but what an adorable and fascinat 
 ing Rachel ! He must settle down like 
 other men, and settling down cost money, 
 and money meant work, but no work was 
 too much for such a prize. 
 
 Miss Janet, however, proved a very mod 
 ern Rachel, with little inclination to "settle 
 down," and he began vaguely to fear that 
 his years of service were only begun instead 
 of ended. And now, at last, it was all over 
 she had jilted him, and he had nothing to 
 console him but the business. He rejected 
 this consolation immediately, vindictively, 
 
30 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 finally, and cast from his feet with scorn the 
 hated dust of the office of Norrie, Trumbull 
 & Co. He was a free man for the first time 
 in eight years but a free man now forever. 
 He tried to feel bitter towards Janet for 
 the pain and humiliation she had caused 
 him. Yet but for her he would still have 
 been a slave, a prisoner in chains, and how 
 could he feel anything but gratitude towards 
 the one who had brought about his freedom ? 
 Freedom meant, besides, a chance to prove 
 himself not a coward. Perhaps he was a 
 coward, through and through he felt un 
 easily uncertain of himself. But at least he 
 would give himself a chance, and if there 
 were left any of the old courage or lightness 
 of heart, he would exploit it for all it was 
 worth. Janet should see, he said impulsively 
 to himself, with a resolute brow and then 
 he laughed at his folly, for what difference did 
 he make to Janet now, or she to him ? He 
 no longer cared for her and no woman was 
 worth a man s freedom, anyway. He real 
 ly only cared to prove himself not a coward 
 for his own satisfaction. Janet was a creature 
 of the past he should probably never see her 
 again and she would be sure to marry some 
 rich old molly-coddle, afraid of his shadow. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 
 
 Tom had seen Janet Trumbull many times 
 when she was a schoolgirl in short dresses. 
 He considered her a pretty little hoyden 
 then, and forgot all about her. She, mean 
 while, continued her education, went to col 
 lege, and grew up with great rapidity. 
 
 The Norries and the Trumbulls, in spite 
 of the business connection, were not inti 
 mate with each other socially. The Norries 
 lived north of a certain street the unfash 
 ionable side and the Trumbulls south of it ; 
 the Norries were Friends, the Trumbulls 
 Church people ; the Norries dined at mid 
 day, the Trumbulls at night ; and these dif 
 ferences were far too vital to be offset by 
 any ordinary respect and affection incident 
 to business association. Mr. Norrie, how 
 ever, dined once a year at the Trumbulls , 
 and Mr. and Mrs. Trumbull took supper as 
 often at the Norries ; and, when Tom be- 
 
32 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 came a member of the firm Mr. Trumbull 
 deemed it appropriate to ask the young man 
 also to the house once or twice in the season. 
 Tom always accepted in duty bound, know 
 ing that there would be a good dinner, good 
 wine, and a few good jokes from the Bull, 
 but expecting otherwise a rather oppressive 
 entertainment. 
 
 But at one of these periodical feasts Miss 
 Janet made her appearance, and Tom did 
 not find the entertainment oppressive that 
 evening. He called very soon afterwards, 
 and very soon again after that, and shortly 
 established himself on a familiar footing in 
 the family, at which the young lady s gruff 
 papa sniffed humorously, but without dis 
 pleasure. 
 
 Miss Janet was a personable young wom 
 an, tall, slender and dark, whom the higher 
 education had taught at least to hold her 
 head very high. She had a quick sense of 
 humor and a nice turn for sarcasm, and 
 proved a very difficult young person to pay 
 court to, on account of a pronounced ten 
 dency to laugh at all suggestions of senti 
 ment. She was strictly a modern girl, as 
 became her college training, and had very 
 modern notions of men and marriage; she 
 
LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 33 
 
 was by no means sure that she cared to have 
 much to do with them. But training can 
 not do away with nature, and Janet s nature 
 was that perennially fascinating and always 
 womanly one that can t help liking men and 
 liking to be liked by them. She was the 
 kind of girl who is so attractive that she is 
 accused, early and often, of being a flirt 
 and perhaps Janet did flirt a little now and 
 then, though it was entirely against her 
 principles to do so. At all events she led 
 her father s partner, Mr. Thomas Norrie, 
 Jr., a very lively dance through the first 
 winter of their acquaintance, and made that 
 ardent young man despair of ever bring 
 ing so top-lofty a head under the yoke of 
 matrimony. But he wooed in earnest and 
 he wooed well. He realized the impor 
 tance of the method in that time-honored 
 pursuit and tried to be bold, always bold, 
 but not overbold ; to adjust with tactful 
 nicety the degree of his presumption, and 
 temper it well with the most attentive ser 
 vice. 
 
 It is one of the lovable weaknesses of a 
 
 nature such as Miss Janet s that it is sure to 
 
 carry its liking to be liked a thought too 
 
 far some day to care too much to be ad- 
 
 3 
 
34 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 mired by one man in especial, and to end by 
 finding itself in love with him, by dint of 
 thinking so much about him. Tom Norrie 
 was six years her senior, and in her eyes he 
 was a fastidious man of the world, whose 
 admiration would be, in a way, a stamp of 
 perfection. She set about winning it with 
 all her maidenly art, aided by all the lore 
 and the accomplishments of a college-bred 
 girl. And however obvious the attainment 
 of the end was to all about her, she was 
 never herself quite certain that Tom Norrie 
 didn t disapprove of her until he suddenly 
 proposed marriage to her in the back garden 
 one agreeable spring evening in the light of 
 the silver moon. 
 
 They had had their coffee there after din 
 ner, and now her mother was gone in, and 
 she was lying back in the steamer- chair, her 
 hand dropped on the rug at her side, look 
 ing up at the moon through the twisted and 
 half-clad branches of a great buttonwood. 
 Mr. Norrie had drawn his stool close to her 
 side after her mother s departure, and now, 
 as he declared himself, in a low and soft 
 voice, with broken statements of his affec 
 tion very different from the eloquent periods 
 in which he had always previously said it 
 
LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 35 
 
 over to himself, he took possession of her 
 drooping hand. The young lady lay quite 
 still, looking at him, saying nothing, and 
 making no effort to recover that piece of her 
 property. Tom took heart from this ap 
 parent concession indeed, he felt very sure 
 that she liked him or he should not have 
 committed himself so far and bent forward 
 with a swift motion as if to draw her to him. 
 
 " Janet, do you love me ? " he murmured. 
 
 "No," said Janet, sitting up straight, 
 avoiding the threatened embrace, and pos 
 sessing herself of her own hand. " That is 
 I hope not," she added in a moment, as if 
 with a conscientious desire not to tell an un 
 truth. 
 
 Tom, who had dropped from heaven the 
 instant before, reascended half-way upon this, 
 and then waited in a state of suspense, or 
 perhaps better, suspension, for further devel 
 opments. "Ah, but if you re not sure! " 
 he murmured. " Then I sha n t give you up 
 I shall make you care for me. " 
 
 "I forbid you to do any such thing," 
 said Janet, quickly. " I don t want to care 
 for you I should much rather not and 
 and I m very glad I m going away next 
 week." 
 
36 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 This struck Tom as a trifle inconclusive. 
 He arose and took a stroll about the grass, 
 his hands in his pockets and his head bent 
 forward in profound thought about the pe 
 culiar ways of women. Should he press his 
 point, or give her her own way? Which 
 would be the better, the surer method ? He 
 must not drive her into rebellion, and neither 
 must she feel any weakness or hesitation in 
 his attitude towards her. It was difficult to 
 control himself now. He had so nearly had 
 her in his arms a moment since, and she was 
 so lovely, so wild, so defiantly dear ! He 
 took another turn or two about, before he 
 went back and sat down on his stool, this 
 time drawing it off to a more discreet dis 
 tance, with half the length of the rug between 
 it and the steamer-chair. 
 
 "Do you mind if I smoke?" he asked 
 in a polite and conversational tone. 
 
 Janet gasped, but managed to utter a some 
 what inarticulate consent to this unexpected 
 request. 
 
 I have to go soon, went on Tom, but 
 I ll smoke this one cigar first, and perhaps 
 you ll tell me a little about your plans. I 
 had no idea you were to begin your summer 
 outing so early. 
 
LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 37 
 
 The young lady s account of her plans was 
 very confused, and Tom s heart beat with in 
 ward delight at her agitation. He managed 
 to gather that an unencumbered aunt in New 
 York, who was very fond of her niece and 
 very fond of travelling, had invited her to 
 go on an out-of-the-way sort of trip to the 
 Sandwich Islands, to Samoa and Japan, 
 that the invitation had but just come, and 
 that the answer was not yet sent, but that 
 she had made up her mind to go, and would 
 probably leave in eight days at the outside. 
 
 " It sounds like the most charming trip im 
 aginable," said Tom. "I would certainly 
 let nothing interfere with it if I were you. 
 You are very much to be envied to have such 
 a chance. I hope it will be perfect in every 
 way, and that you ll have lots of fun. You 
 are going so soon that I don t believe I shall 
 see you again, so I ll wish you bon voyage 
 now. Don t come in it is too lovely out 
 here. I can find your mother by myself." 
 
 Janet was not able to utter a word in reply 
 to all this easy volubility, and she sat in 
 blank silence after Tom left her. What had 
 she done ? Did he really care at all ? How 
 could he talk and act so if he did ? It had 
 taken so little to dampen his ardor ! If she 
 
38 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 had had any idea Her mind reverted to 
 the thrill that went through her when he 
 began speaking in that soft, ardent voice, 
 and took her hand. How close and warm 
 his clasp was ! She had been lulled into a 
 sort of dream, unable to resist. It was only 
 when he moved nearer to her and she felt the 
 response to him through her whole being that 
 she had stirred herself to resistance. Well, 
 if it needed so little as that to scare him off 
 he might go she would not call him back. 
 If she loved a girl she would woo more man 
 fully, more masterfully she would not give 
 in at the first rebuff. Not that she wanted a 
 master, or would even acknowledge one ; but 
 if a man wasn t strong and manly he wasn t 
 worth loving and marrying. The way to 
 make marriage the equal affair it should be 
 was for the woman to be just as strong and 
 just as manly not for the man to be less 
 so. A sudden idea struck her. Well, why 
 shouldn t she ? It would be a capital object- 
 lesson for him. 
 
 Tis not so much the gallant who woos 
 As the gallant s way of wooing ! 
 
 She strolled up and down on the grass as 
 Tom had done, and in much the same cir- 
 
LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 39 
 
 cuit, but with her hands posed on her hips 
 instead of in pockets, her head high in the 
 air instead of bent forward, while she punc 
 tuated her thoughts with smiles and laughs, 
 and tossings of her head as if to get it still 
 higher and finally a sudden clapping of her 
 hands. 
 
 "That s exactly it ! " she cried aloud. 
 " I ll give him four days. And then if he 
 hasn t come back I ll do it I will ! It will 
 be too much fun ! 
 
 Thus Tom, growing daily more dubious of 
 the success of his bold methods, and sitting 
 at his desk in the office with a longer face 
 and longer, until there was no further pos 
 sibility of elongation without fracture, re 
 ceived on the fifth day of waiting a strange 
 and enigmatical note, which caused his heart 
 to thrill with eager conjecture. The note 
 was addressed to him, in Miss Trumbull s 
 vigorous handwriting, but it began " Sweet 
 Chloe," and ended, "Your never-to-be- 
 daunted Strephon." Though Mr. Norrie 
 was entirely unacquainted with either the 
 gentleman or the lady, and had no right if 
 he were to read their private correspondence, 
 he perused this brief epistle with shameless 
 eagerness. 
 
40 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " I am not the craven I seem," wrote 
 Strephon. " A laggard in love is no lover, 
 a coward in love is no man. I am both man 
 and lover, and to prove this to you, with 
 your gracious permission, fair lady, I will be 
 beneath the plane-tree in the garden, where 
 last I saw you, at nine to-night. I could, if 
 needful not being a coward, as I remarked 
 before scale the area fence from the back 
 alley and risk the cruel hurts of the broken 
 bottles glued on the top thereof, but unless 
 you specially require this proof of the pro 
 fundity of my passion, I should prefer that 
 you would leave the gate unlocked. But 
 through flood or fire, broken glass or barbed 
 wire, I shall pass all barriers that lie betwixt 
 us, and cast myself at your feet at the hour 
 and place stated above, provided, of course, 
 your feet are there to cast myself at. You 
 furnish the feet and I ll do the rest, in other 
 words. Is it a bargain ? if you will par 
 don the language of commerce applied to 
 the affairs of love. And don t forget that 
 I m not a coward." 
 
 Tom Norrie, in evening dress, sneaking 
 into a narrow back alley by moonlight in 
 the deepest shadow he could find, dodging 
 ash-barrels and scaring wandering cats, felt 
 
LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 41 
 
 curiously unlike the nineteenth century and 
 the prosaic workaday world in which he 
 lived. He was not sure at first from the 
 back which was the Trumbull mansion, and 
 was aware that in the eyes of the police his 
 hesitating actions would be highly suspi 
 cious. But the eyes of the police, as is usual 
 on occasions of suspicion, were not there to 
 see, and the mottled trunk of the great but- 
 tonwood distinguished it clearly in the moon 
 light from the tulip-trees and maples in the 
 gardens round-about, and then in another 
 moment his hand was on the latch of the 
 gate, which yielded at once and swung open 
 easily before him. 
 
 Tom almost laughed at the way his heart 
 beat as he stepped within the charmed pre 
 cinct. No one was visible. The rug, the 
 bench, the steamer-chair, the wicker table, 
 the stool, were all there, in exactly the posi 
 tions they had occupied when he bade Janet 
 farewell so coolly, five nights earlier. The 
 dappled shadows cast by the sparse foliage 
 of the buttonwood-tree lay over all, and the 
 silence, even there in the heart of the city, 
 seemed for the moment absolute. Tom took 
 the precaution to lock the gate behind him, 
 then waited for Chloe or was he waiting 
 
42 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 for Strephon ? He really was not quite cer 
 tain, the note having left him a little topsy 
 turvy as to his own identity. He leaned 
 against the rough trunk of Strephon s plane- 
 tree, which was certainly more poetical and 
 quite as correct as the buttonwood, and re 
 garded the house, and the line of tall firs 
 which separated it from the garden, and cut 
 off all view of its lower story. A church 
 clock not far away rang out nine on the 
 evening air, and promptly at the last stroke, 
 as seemed eminently consistent with the 
 solemn mystery of the occasion, a dark fig 
 ure emerged from behind these firs and 
 paced slowly along the greensward towards 
 the spot where Mr. Norrie stood. This mys 
 terious shape paused at the distance of some 
 twenty feet, and Tom observed that it was 
 clad in a student s cap and gown. 
 
 " I would suggest," it said, in deep and 
 solemn tones, " that Miss Chloe remove her 
 top hat top hats being not only inappro 
 priate to her sex and condition, but a trifle 
 of an anachronism, to boot." 
 
 Tom instantly did as he was bid. 
 
 " Sit down," then commanded the shape. 
 " No not there in the low chair. Now 
 lean back so and look up at the moon 
 
LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 43 
 
 that s it. And in case you should feel 
 chilly in your evening frock, here s a wrap to 
 drape about your shoulders. Dear, no ! 
 don t bundle it that way you look as if 
 you d an awful cold in your head arrange 
 it with more coquetry and grace. Well, but 
 you are clumsy ! 
 
 " 1 think if Strephon had any gallantry 
 he might arrange it for me, instead of call 
 ing me names," grumbled Chloe. 
 
 " I didn t know you would permit such 
 familiar attentions from your gen lemen- 
 friends," replied Strephon, with a laugh, 
 but making no effort to relieve Chloe s em 
 barrassment with the fleecy wrap. He drew 
 up the stool and placed it exactly where 
 Tom had sat when he made his momentous 
 declaration. " Now we re ready to begin," 
 he declared, sitting down and regarding 
 Chloe. 
 
 Tom looked at the girl s mischievous face, 
 half darkened by the shadow of her mortar 
 board, and wondered what she was up to. 
 
 " She shall work it her own way," he said 
 to himself. "I ll not interfere in the very 
 least." 
 
 Strephon leaned forward toward Chloe on 
 the steamer - chair and composed his feat- 
 
44 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 ures to as impressive and serious an expres 
 sion as possible. " Chloe," he said, in a 
 low and thrilling voice, "we have known 
 each other well hardly more than half a 
 year. I could tell you the very moment of 
 our meeting, and how many hours we have 
 spent in each other s society up to date, but 
 until I am sure of the nature of your senti 
 ments towards me I refrain from wearying 
 you with arithmetical details that might 
 remind you of my methodical commercial 
 habits. Nor do I say that I fell in love with 
 you at first sight, for that would not be true, 
 and I wish to be as exact in the affairs of 
 love as in those of trade, exactitude being an 
 admirable business habit. Besides, I wish 
 especially to make the point that I have not 
 loved you long in secret, and put off telling 
 you until I felt sure you reciprocated, for 
 fear of having my pride hurt by refusal. On 
 the contrary, I never realized the state of my 
 affections until I spoke to you so abruptly 
 the other evening, and then the only reason 
 why I stopped talking about it and went off 
 at your first No was because I remem 
 bered a very important engagement I had at 
 my club, which I had forgotten up to that 
 identical minute. Duty called me and I had 
 
LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 45 
 
 to go, but I left my heart at your feet 
 where it has remained ever since for all I 
 know, and I hope you haven t been playing 
 football with ,it. 
 
 Strephon here looked about suspiciously 
 for the missing organ referred to, but not 
 seeing it, resumed his remarks. " Of course 
 I am aware that my behavior strongly re 
 sembled cowardice it certainly looked as if 
 I feared the word No as a raw recruit 
 would a cannon-ball, and fled at the first 
 volley in order to be out of sight and sound 
 of the second. But that was not so, Chloe ; 
 I don t like to hear you say No, I admit, 
 but I am ready to hear it forty times if there 
 is the slightest chance of a < Yes at the 
 forty-first. And to prove this I am here to 
 night, to stand to my colors and be shot at 
 my post if need be. At least I shall die a 
 soldier, on the field of battle, fighting for 
 what is dearest to me, and what better fate 
 can there be than that ? Besides, I am well 
 aware " here Strephon s voice became very 
 significant in its tone " that women care 
 for nothing in men so much as for courage ; 
 so, even if I were quaking and shivering in 
 side, which I m not, I should still force my 
 self to take this bold stand, knowing that if 
 
46 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 there were any chance for me whatever this 
 would be the way to win it." 
 
 Strephon stopped a moment impressively, 
 looking at Chloe with all his eyes, as the say 
 ing goes. " Chloe," he declared, " I love 
 you. I ask you again do you love me ? " 
 
 Chloe, who had been lying in her chair 
 quite passively, with her hands in her lap, 
 seemed suddenly at this point to remember 
 something, and instead of answering Stre 
 phon s question, quickly lifted one arm, and 
 let her hand drop over the side of the chair 
 to the rug below. 
 
 Strephon grinned appreciatively at this 
 manoeuvre, but hesitated a moment, as if the 
 duty before him were very repugnant. "I 
 must not falter now," he murmured to him 
 self, but quite audibly \ and then, in a some 
 what gingerly manner, picked up Chloe s 
 hand and looked at it as if he did not know 
 what to do with it. "I can stand cannon- 
 balls," he said, in a stage aside, " but hand 
 to hand encounters are more than I bar 
 gained for." However, he took the hand 
 in his, with a very creditable pressure, and 
 resumed his discourse. "You do not an 
 swer me, Chloe. Again I ask, do you love 
 me can you love me ? " 
 
LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 47 
 
 Chloe now pulled her hand away (it was 
 an heroic effort on the part of Mr. Norrie) 
 and sat upright. " No, I don t," she said, 
 somewhat viciously. " Maybe I could if I 
 would, but I wouldn t if I could." 
 
 Strephon smiled at the familiar vehe 
 mence of these remarks. " All right," he 
 said, cheerfully, " but I don t give up the 
 ship, all the same. I ll side track a little 
 bit, for variety, and then we ll come back 
 to the main line again." Whereupon he 
 launched into a vigorous enumeration of 
 Chloe s charms, and of the reasons why he 
 loved her. "Of course," he wound up, 
 " I am aware that what a woman likes best 
 in a man next to courage is compliments, 
 but that is not the reason I am telling you 
 all these things. I am telling them to you 
 because they are true not to curry favor. 
 They may not interest you in the least, but 
 they are facts all the same. Now, Chloe, 
 I ask you once more do you love me ? " 
 
 Chloe had placed her hand at this juncture 
 very obviously on her knee, within a foot of 
 Strephon s, but that young man apparently 
 felt no temptation to touch it. Chloe sniffed 
 contemptuously, and replied again, "No, I 
 don t that is I hope not. When I do 
 
48 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 fall in love I hope it may be with a man 
 who will make use of his opportunities. 
 
 Strephon looked a little dubious at this. 
 " Thrice refused," he said, after a moment. 
 "Well, I think that will do for to-night s 
 cannonading. But I give you fair warning, 
 Chloe, that I intend to fight it out on this 
 line if it takes all summer. I shall adopt all 
 known methods of warfare, and shall never 
 give up the siege unless unless the city 
 surrenders to another commander. Then, 
 and then only, shall I fold my tents and 
 move away. But for the present farewell. 
 
 Strephon started to rise, but Chloe threw 
 herself forward on her knees at his side, and 
 forcibly prevented his departure yet with 
 a very delicate force, as befitted her sex. 
 
 " No no, Janet, not so fast," said Tom. 
 "You have given me a lesson now I must 
 return the favor. Do you really think any 
 Chloe would care for so cold and unimpas- 
 sioned a Strephon, who held her hand as if 
 it were a piece of wood, and dropped it at 
 the first excuse? No, my dear girl you ve 
 a great deal yet to learn about love-making, 
 and I should like nothing so much as to be 
 your teacher. I d not charge you a cent for 
 tuition, either I d do it for love." 
 
LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 49 
 
 "It s a branch I m not at all anxious to 
 take up yet," said Janet. " And, really, 
 Mr. Norrie, I can t see what right you have 
 to hold my hands. You don t do it in the 
 least as if they were pieces of wood ! " 
 
 "It s an object-lesson," declared Tom, 
 boldly. "I m showing you how it ought to 
 be done. You evidently had not the least idea 
 and and well, knowledge is power." 
 He drew her hands against his heart with a 
 sudden impassioned gesture. "And you 
 call me a coward," he murmured, "and 
 have no idea of the courage of a man who 
 puts himself constantly in the way of the 
 strongest temptation, and yet resists it. The 
 brave man fights his battles within himself, 
 and the undiscerning, hearing no blare of 
 trumpets nor clash of warfare, see only what 
 they call weakness cowardice ! My heart 
 is burning with love of you I would give all 
 I possess to take you in my arms press you 
 to my heart yet I sit here calmly 
 
 " Kneel," prompted Janet, mischievously. 
 
 " Kneel here calmly, and discourse to you 
 jokingly of this thing and that, as if you 
 were no more to me than your plane-tree 
 yonder as if we were both blocks of wood, 
 instead of throbbing flesh and blood." 
 4 
 
50 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Don t call me names," said Janet, "I 
 don t throb." 
 
 Tom looked at her fixedly. "I ll venture 
 the contrary," he said, in the low, ardent 
 tone that had thrilled her so the other night. 
 You do care for me in spite of yourself 
 your heart is responsive to me it does throb 
 with strange and new emotions, now, as I 
 tell you of my love and if I draw it to mine 
 and hold you there close never to let you 
 leave me again you will not repulse me 
 you cannot love is stronger than you, and 
 you must yield to its power." 
 
 Some moments later Janet broke the si 
 lence by observing, in a lightly conversational 
 tone, "I think I ll change my mind and 
 take up Love after all. I learned most other 
 things at college so I ve really plenty of 
 time, and this seems an excellent opportunity. 
 So cheap, too I don t know where I could 
 have found such an excellent professor at such 
 advantageous rates. It will interfere a little 
 with my summer plans, to be sure but I 
 shall be improving my mind all the time, at 
 least. However, I must consult mamma and 
 papa about it, and see if they approve 
 
 "Oh, not yet," begged Tom, " it s so 
 pleasant out here ! " 
 
LESSONS IN LOVE-MAKING 5 1 
 
 "Is it? " asked Janet, with an incredu 
 lous little laugh. 
 
 "Besides," went on Mr. Norrie, in the 
 same persuasive accents, "I should like to 
 suggest of course if you re to study with me 
 I m anxious to have my pupil as proficient 
 as possible, and the more time you spend on 
 it the quicker you learn, you know er er 
 why shouldn t we get married ? " 
 
 " Married ! " The young lady was stand 
 ing upright and indignant six feet away, and 
 Tom had a sensation of being scattered to 
 the four winds as he rose in confusion from 
 his kneeling posture. 
 
 " I don t know why that should surprise 
 you so," he said, ruefully. " The very first 
 lesson in love, before you ve learned to con 
 jugate it even, is that it must end in mar 
 riage, that marriage is its logical out 
 come 
 
 " Ah ! But to commit yourself to it forever 
 before you ve learned the first syllable, be 
 fore you know whether you like it or not ? 
 The idea! Besides," flippantly "even if 
 I enjoyed the study I might prefer to change 
 my professor ! No, Mr. Norrie ; it is one of 
 the advantages of college training for women 
 that it teaches them not to be precipitate in 
 
52 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 their choice of life not to marry too young. 
 If you care to go on with this instruction I 
 am ready also, but on the imperative condi 
 tion that marriage is not again mentioned by 
 you for a year ! 
 
 "Oh, well," said Tom, fatuously, "of 
 course I ll accept any conditions, but I shall 
 confide in your generosity, and trust that 
 you won t be too hard on me." 
 
 Janet laughed. " I think you ve a good 
 deal to learn yourself, Mr. Professor," she 
 remarked. " However, I ll undertake your 
 tuition while you are busy with mine ; and 
 so ; even if you are sadder, you will at least 
 be wiser ! 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 A QUESTION OF COURAGE 
 
 Almost a year of this mutual tuition had 
 passed, and Tom, as Janet had predicted, 
 was indeed sadder as well as wiser. The 
 first six months had been woven nearly all of 
 joy, for even when Janet was away in the 
 summer there were her delightful letters 
 during the week, and the still more delight 
 ful Sundays, passed together in forest walks 
 in the mountains or by the sands of the 
 sounding sea. She proved a coy and way 
 ward lover, difficult to tame and shy of 
 caresses, but Tom found great charm in this 
 wildness, and tried hard not to disturb her 
 with his own more impassioned notions of 
 love-making. 
 
 But as the autumn wore on into the winter, 
 and she still would hear no word of marriage, 
 and seemed to grow more wilful rather than 
 less so, the young man became impatient, 
 and sometimes let her see it ; or, again, de- 
 
54 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 manded tenderness of her in her least 
 tender moods, and was hurt and unhappy 
 when she laughed in his face. At times he 
 felt as if he really knew her less than be 
 fore he first spoke to her of his love. There 
 was a coldness, almost resentment, in the 
 way she looked at him, as if she could not 
 forgive him for having forced his way into 
 her private life. They seemed terribly re 
 mote and unknown to each other then, two 
 wholly separate beings, whose efforts to 
 enter into each other s hearts had only 
 shown them, with a bitter reality, that such 
 union was impossible that men and women, 
 after all, must live in the world as they enter 
 it, and leave it, alone. 
 
 Janet had her softened moments, when she 
 too regretted this state of things, but their 
 attempts to talk it out and start fresh in 
 happier relations only ended in disagree 
 ments, and an intensified misunderstanding. 
 Then Janet would be perverse, mischievous 
 and flippant, and Tom would get out of pa 
 tience with her, and be exacting, or, still 
 more foolishly, denunciatory. Whereupon 
 Miss Janet would openly deride him, with 
 wicked sauciness, becoming even spiteful as 
 he persisted in his gloomy disapproval. Or 
 
A QUESTION OF COURAGE 55 
 
 when he varied the program by being hurt 
 and grieved, she would seem driven to com 
 plete exasperation by his unhappy expression, 
 and then would treat him with contemptuous 
 cruelty. These fits were always followed by 
 penitence, and a great kindness towards the 
 victim, but as they increased in number 
 and severity and the spasms of kindness 
 grew briefer in proportion, Tom at last lost 
 heart altogether, and went about in an ut 
 terly dejected way that made him anything 
 but a pleasant companion to Janet or any 
 one else. 
 
 And at last, only yesterday evening, they 
 had had their final explanation, and now all 
 was over between them forever. " Forever " 
 it is such a delightfully high-sounding 
 word even the most unhappy of discarded 
 lovers derives a certain satisfaction from 
 rolling it off the tip of his tongue, and gloats 
 a little over the permanence of misery that 
 it implies. 
 
 " Come, Tom, do be cheerful, and try to 
 smile at least once in ten minutes," Miss 
 Janet had said when her lover and his long 
 face had graced the Trumbull drawing- 
 room with a fixed melancholy for half an 
 hour. 
 
56 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " I have nothing to smile about." 
 
 Very well, then, go away, and don t 
 come back until you have something to 
 smile about." 
 
 " I think perhaps that would be best my 
 self." 
 
 11 1 am sure of it." 
 
 " Are you in earnest, Janet? " 
 
 " Are not you?" 
 
 " Yes. If my sadness exasperates you I d 
 better go away, since only your love can 
 make me smile, and that you do not give 
 me." 
 
 " Humph," with a shrug of the shoulders, 
 " I certainly can t lavish affection upon you 
 as long as you are so frightfully solemn, so 
 I m afraid it s a deadlock." 
 
 Janet, we must be frank with each 
 other ; I demand frankness. 
 
 "Tom," mimicking, "we have been 
 frank with each other, and it always made 
 us mad. 
 
 "Don t mock, Janet. I can t stand this 
 sort of thing any longer. It s ruining my 
 health." 
 
 The young lady regarded him scornfully. 
 "You do look ill," she said, in a jeering 
 tone, positively emaciated. I don t believe 
 
A QUESTION OF COURAGE 57 
 
 you weigh more than ten pounds above what 
 you did a year ago." 
 
 " A man needn t lose flesh to be ill," said 
 Tom, gloomily. 
 
 " Come, Tom ; don t be a baby. That s 
 my great quarrel with you " 
 
 What do you mean ? 
 
 " You pity yourself too much. Your own 
 sympathy with your woes is so excessive that 
 it makes other people hard on you, just by 
 reaction. 
 
 "I ve noticed your hardness " 
 
 "Of course; I can t help it. I get so 
 provoked with you for taking yourself so 
 seriously, and regarding yourself as such an 
 injured being. It well, really, it doesn t 
 seem to me manly. 
 
 " Does your conduct seem to you woman- 
 ly?" 
 
 " It doesn t seem to me anything ; I don t 
 think about it. If I did I think yours would 
 seem to me a sufficient excuse for all that 
 was bad in it." 
 
 " So that I am all to blame ? " 
 
 I shouldn t use that expression . I don t 
 suppose you can help it. " 
 
 "Help what?" 
 
 "Being a a " 
 
58 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "Oh, a baby a coward anything you 
 choose to call it. 
 
 A long pause followed, during which Janet 
 twitched a flower to pieces, and Tom sat in 
 horrified silence regarding her. 
 
 " Do you really consider me a coward, 
 Janet ? " he asked at last. 
 
 " That s what I said, didn t I? " 
 
 " Why did you never tell me so before ? " 
 
 "I have a hundred times but you 
 couldn t see it." 
 
 "You never used the word " 
 
 " I implied it in a hundred ways I sup 
 posed you knew what I meant." 
 
 " How implied it? " 
 
 "Oh, I can t remember now I ve tried 
 so many different methods ! Why, when 
 you proposed to me, and went off rt the 
 first No all my mummery about Strephon 
 and Chloe was meant to show that that no 
 such faint-heart could win a woman s love." 
 
 " It seems to me my method worked very 
 well with one woman," said Tom, coldly 
 "even if you did think me a faint-heart. 
 It took but five days to bring you round." 
 
 " Method five days ! " cried Janet, with 
 flashing eyes. "Do you mean to say you 
 
A QUESTION OF COURAGE 59 
 
 planned that? that you expected me to 
 < come round as you call it ? That was 
 more cowardly even than I thought ! 
 
 " Don t be absurd, Janet. How can one 
 say what one plans or doesn t plan at such a 
 time of emotion ? And besides, in love and 
 war 
 
 " I think we ve tried love long enough," 
 said Janet, icily. " Suppose we try war 
 now. 
 
 " It seems to me we ve tried nothing else 
 for the last few months. Calling it love 
 didn t alter its real nature." 
 
 "Suppose, then, we try nothing for a 
 change. 
 
 " Janet, say plainly what you mean. Do 
 you wish to break our engagement ? Tom 
 was very pale as he asked this question, and 
 Janet shrank a little from the fixed severity 
 of his expression, and seemed to find it im 
 possible to make the answer she wished to 
 make. "Answer me, Janet," demanded 
 the young man. " This state of uncertainty 
 has lasted long enough. I must know ex 
 actly what you wish." 
 
 " I wish to be free," she answered him in 
 a low tone. Then, having at last said it, 
 she was able to go on without restraint. " I 
 
60 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 can t stand being tied to you it makes me 
 almost hate you. I don t know why, for I 
 know I loved you once. Perhaps I love 
 you still, but I never can find out so long as 
 I am bound to you so long as I must marry 
 you whether I will or not. I can t bear the 
 thought of marriage. I don t feel towards 
 you as a woman should towards the man she 
 is going to marry. I am impatient with you 
 critical of you unjust to you, I am 
 afraid." 
 
 " It is pleasant of you to admit the possi 
 bility of that," said Tom, bitterly. 
 
 " Why do you take that tone ? Do you 
 suppose I want to treat you unkindly and 
 make you miserable? Do you think I en 
 joy it and am very happy myself? Oh, 
 Tom, you complain of my hardness, my lack 
 of sympathy for you, and yet you yourself 
 have never once taken the trouble to put 
 yourself in my place and imagine how I must 
 feel. It exasperates me your concern 
 about your own feelings, with never a thought 
 of mine. You pity yourself so much it is 
 babyish. I want to think of you as manly 
 and strong, but I can t. You seem to show 
 your worst and weakest side to me ; I can t 
 lean on you, I can t respect you. When- 
 
A QUESTION OF COURAGE 61 
 
 ever I want your help you fail me. You 
 pretend to love me so much, but all you seem 
 to want of my love is what I can give you 
 sympathy for you, admiration for you, inter 
 est in your affairs, your thoughts, your life 
 and you forget entirely that I, too, am a hu 
 man being, even if I m not a man ; that I 
 have a life and thoughts and affairs, that I 
 want sympathy and interest and and ad 
 miration " 
 
 Tom w r as looking at her with a strange 
 calmness the calmness of suppressed feeling. 
 "Do you really think I don t love you, 
 Janet that my love is a mere selfish pre 
 tence ? " he asked, after some moments had 
 passed. 
 
 " Oh, you think you love me, Tom, of 
 course, but it doesn t seem to me real love. 
 Bah ! I hate the very name of love it cov 
 ers so much false sentiment, so many impos 
 sible ideals, such exacting selfishness ! It 
 means so much weariness and monotony and 
 boredom. Just think, Tom, of this year that 
 we have been engaged what an awful waste 
 of time ! I don t believe you ve read a book, 
 and I know I ve not read many./ Every 
 evening that we haven t been out together 
 you ve spent here with me, and what have 
 
62 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 we done ? Just made love nothing else ; 
 talked personalities and sentiment by the 
 hour, until I die of weariness to think of it. 
 So many times we should both of us rather 
 have read or done anything, in fact, to 
 employ our minds rationally. But, no, we 
 were engaged. The thought that we could 
 possibly tire of each other s conversation was 
 not to be entertained for a moment ! It is 
 the convention of the situation that you must 
 make love ; it may bore you, but you must 
 do it ; it is the proper thing. Ugh ! How 
 any rational woman can go through l being 
 engaged, and endure the thought of mar 
 riage the perpetuation of it forever, I can t 
 see. The whole situation is so false you 
 have to pretend all the time. I I like to 
 be honest to say and do what I like, ex 
 press my feelings, even if they aren t the 
 thing that s expected of me." 
 
 " That s your idea, I suppose, of purely un 
 selfish love ? suggested Tom, sardonically. 
 
 "It s my idea of an equal and beautiful 
 relation, in which perfect honesty is possible. 
 Why shouldn t I have the right to say so if 
 love-making bores me ? if I m tired of bill 
 ing and cooing and would rather read a book ? 
 If I don t feel in an affectionate mood and 
 
A QUESTION OF COURAGE 63 
 
 would rather not be kissed ? Oh, Tom, I 
 want no more of what you call love this 
 winter has been a nightmare to me ! You ve 
 exacted affection of me when it nauseated 
 me; talked personalities until I was bored 
 to death, growing silent and unexpressive 
 once your favorite subjects were abandoned ; 
 regarding love as a thing purely of the senses, 
 with no food for the mind and my mind 
 has been so unsatisfied ! Then if I gave the 
 slightest expression to any of this feeling, you 
 were so sensitive, and your sensitiveness was 
 sufficient excuse in your mind for any degree 
 of limpness and loppiness and general pros 
 tration that you chose to indulge in. I had 
 to be comforting you and coddling you all 
 the time, and binding up your wounds, and 
 treating you like a baby, and saying things 
 I didn t mean, just to get you cheerful again. 
 I ve always been honest, and I like to be 
 honest, but this year of our engagement I ve 
 told more white lies, acted more untruths 
 than I ever dreamed would be possible for 
 me, and all just to gloss over the injuries done 
 to your sensitive disposition ! Sensitiveness 
 is only another name for selfishness, I think 
 and such a weak, mushy sort of selfishness ! 
 I know I m perfectly hateful, but if being 
 
64 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 engaged to you makes me so I d certainly 
 better stop being engaged. And I know 
 there s another side your side and I can 
 see it much more vividly than you think, 
 and feel far more miserable than I could 
 make you believe to cause you such suffering 
 as this. But I can t help it; there s no use 
 in keeping up this sort of a farce, and pre 
 tending to feel what I don t feel." 
 
 " I can tell you what the whole trouble is," 
 said Tom. "You have never loved me 
 you have loved an ideal manufactured in 
 your own brain, and because I prove, natur 
 ally, very unlike this paragon, you think me 
 one delusion and all love another. But 
 there is one thing I cannot understand, and 
 that is why my inability to come up to the 
 standard of your pattern man should necessi 
 tate your calling me a coward." 
 
 " Can you prove that you aren t? " 
 " The burden of proof is on you." 
 "Well, I suppose really it is more a sus 
 picion a fear with me than anything else. 
 I ve always adored strength and courage in 
 men and women alike, and the fear that you 
 mightn t have them was torture to me. The 
 least suspicion of weakness in you made me 
 harsh and hard towards you, and the least 
 
A QUESTION OF COURAGE 65 
 
 lack of resolution and bravery made me 
 vicious. But, oh ! Tom if I married you 
 and there came a test and you failed me, if 
 you were a coward, I should despise you I 
 couldn t help it. I d far rather you d be 
 bad and brave than good and cowardly 
 that is, I could love you that way, and I 
 couldn t the other. But you you re so 
 cautious, so careful, you hate so to run any 
 risk when we go to places you won t do 
 anything you hate adventures so you seem 
 so bound up in your old business so fussy 
 and particular about details like an old 
 maid. Oh, it seems to me you aren t manly, 
 and you can t be brave and it makes me so 
 impatient with you, and then I can t bear 
 you to come near me, and that makes you 
 grieved, and then we are both miserable. 
 No no I can t go on I must be free." 
 
 "You are free," said Tom, quietly. " I 
 have no claim on your heart, and hence none 
 on your hand. And it is better that I should 
 not come here any more ; that we should 
 simply say goodby, and let that end it." 
 
 "I am going away, anyway, soon," said 
 
 Janet, with a touch of sudden feebleness 
 
 after all her vehemence ; and then, as Tom 
 
 did not ask where, she went on half absently, 
 
 5 
 
66 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " The trip I didn t take with Aunt Elliott 
 last spring I m to have this spring. Only 
 it s a different trip, of course. Just our 
 own West, all the new States, and anything 
 that seems to be interesting when we get 
 there, without any fixed plan ahead." She 
 mentioned in the same absent way a few of 
 the places they thought of visiting, and 
 wound up with the statement that they should 
 start in about a month. 
 
 " A good trip for a romantic young lady. 
 You may see a brave man or two, and Tom 
 smiled pleasantly. 
 
 " Oh, Tom, I hate to think of all I ve 
 said." 
 
 " It was better to say it if it was true." 
 
 " But there s so much else that s true. I 
 like you so much. We ve been such good 
 friends. Surely you will come here ? I 
 shall see you sometimes ? 
 
 " No. We well, we should have noth 
 ing to talk about for one thing," said Tom, 
 with a little laugh. 
 
 " Oh, Tom ! don t ! But tell me are 
 you have I you don t mind very much ? 
 
 " Oh, no," said Tom, cheerfully. " You 
 haven t broken my heart, if that s what you 
 mean. There are plenty of interests left in 
 
A QUESTION OF COURAGE 67 
 
 life. I hate the old business for one thing, 
 and can t bear to spend my whole life in it ; 
 and since I haven t got to support a wife I 
 won t. I dare say, too, I shall find trav 
 elling more entertaining than matrimony 
 would have been ; then we shall agree about 
 one thing at least." 
 
 Janet was nonplussed by his easy way of 
 taking it. " I m so glad you feel so about 
 it," she said, half-heartedly. 
 
 " Oh, yes, you can relieve your mind of 
 all anxiety on my behalf. To tell the truth, 
 he said, " I m not sure I wasn t a little 
 bored with being engaged myself; but be 
 ing a man I hadn t the originality to dis 
 cover it. Adam let Eve find out things for 
 him, and men ever since have followed his 
 example. Well, I must be going. I hope 
 nothing will interfere with your trip you re 
 very much to be envied to have such a 
 chance. I hope it will be perfect in every 
 way, and that you ll have lots of fun. I 
 sha n t see you again, so I ll wish you bon 
 voyage now." 
 
 " Why," cried Janet, with wide-open 
 eyes, "you re saying exactly what you said 
 a year ago almost word for word." 
 
 "Ami? That s funny." 
 
68 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " But you didn t mean it then " 
 
 "Well, I do mean it now," declared 
 Tom, with a smile. " Make my respects to 
 your father and mother, please. Goodby. 
 
 Janet stood in the middle of the drawing- 
 room, just where he had taken leave of her, 
 for many minutes. " Doesn t he care at 
 all ? " she asked herself. " Or is it that he 
 cares so much and is too proud to show it ? 
 What if he isn t a coward? Somehow I 
 haven t liked him so well for months! I 
 wonder if I can have made a mistake after 
 all?" 
 
 Some instinct of reticence prompted her 
 not to tell her family of what had occurred, 
 but to let them find it out gradually, by ob 
 servation. 
 
 " If Tom Nome s in here this evening," 
 growled her father, the next night at dinner, 
 " I want to see him." 
 
 "I don t expect him to-night," said 
 Janet, quietly. 
 
 " Humph ! Thought he was here every 
 night wasting his time. Where is he, then ? 
 
 " I don t know, papa. Why are you so 
 put out with him ? " 
 
 "I m not put out with him. Impudent 
 young jackanapes ! growled the Bull but 
 
A QUESTION OF COURAGE 69 
 
 before he knew it, Miss Janet, by dint of 
 artful contradictions, sudden agreements and 
 other tactics, patented by herself for the pur 
 pose, had the whole story out of him. 
 
 She was awestruck at Tom s new-found 
 independence, and thrilled, yet half uneasy 
 over this signal instance of his bravery, for 
 she knew well what it meant to defy her 
 father s wrath. But when he did not turn 
 up the next day at the office, nor the next, 
 when it was learned that he had drawn a 
 large sum of money from his bank, and he 
 was traced as far as Chicago, but utterly lost 
 from that point on, it began to look to 
 Janet, as to the others, a very serious mat 
 ter. It was a genuine and complete disap 
 pearance, and she remembered anxiously now 
 hearing Tom say in days gone by that he 
 had always thought he should like to disap 
 pear to have the freedom of being prac 
 tically another person, and to have a new 
 life as different as possible from any he had 
 known before. 
 
 1 ( If anything happens to him I shall be to 
 blame," she said to herself, miserably. " I 
 drove him to it. There s no knowing what 
 risks he may run especially if he isn t a 
 coward!" and she spent her days and 
 
70 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 many sleepless nights in vain conjecture as 
 to where he had gone, and what he might 
 be doing ; looking forward with feverish 
 eagerness to her own departure for the West, 
 in the forlorn hope that she might some 
 where run across him. And as the time 
 passed and there came no word of him, she 
 began to think that she would have to give 
 up everything else to search for him she 
 was sure that she could find him sooner or 
 later, and this suspense about him was un 
 bearable it would kill her. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE 
 
 A month passed. Tom Norrie spent his 
 first weeks of freedom in travelling from the 
 midwest still westward by such stages, rapid 
 or slow, as suited his mood from day to day. 
 He made friends on the trains with those 
 men whose appearance attracted him most, 
 and sometimes even accompanied these queer 
 acquaintances upon their further journeys. 
 All the conventional social laws that had up 
 to this time regulated his intercourse with 
 other human beings were cast one side. He 
 was hail-fellow with every one, and did not 
 wait to be introduced. Cigars and drinks 
 were introduction enough. They led rapidly 
 to agreeable games of poker, or still more 
 agreeable conversations, in which Mr. Nor 
 rie s own engaging frankness about his past 
 career led to equally pleasing confidences on 
 the part of his friend of the moment. Tom 
 invented a plausible yarn of his early life and 
 
72 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 adventures, which by dint of frequent re 
 peating began to seem to him so true that 
 he told it with most convincing verisimili 
 tude suppressing nothing derogatory, nor 
 yet magnifying unduly those feats of arms 
 or craft which redounded to his credit. He 
 modestly let himself appear as a " tender 
 foot," but by accident of circumstance 
 rather than by temperament, for his tale 
 showed him no milksop. 
 
 In his thirst for real adventure he picked 
 out wherever he went the most devil-may- 
 care and reckless faces those which gave 
 signs of humor, bravado, and audacity. He 
 sought for that character with which he had 
 invested a priori his Western compatriot ; 
 he sought to come in closest contact with it, 
 and then to emulate it. He found gener 
 ally, to be sure, peaceful citizens dwelling 
 behind these brazen masks, and lives com 
 monly tame enough beneath the heroic blus 
 ter which pleased him. 
 
 But again, there was brass within a fair 
 counterpart to that without, and he found 
 himself, to his delight, shaking hands and 
 drinking with gentlemen who if they had 
 not been in jail belonged there by rights, 
 and who bragged as lightly of having killed 
 
IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE 73 
 
 their man or possibly several as Tom 
 might boast of breaking an unruly horse. 
 So he sat with them in the gaudy saloons, 
 and heard their adventures, and narrated his 
 own imaginary ones, and then followed them 
 out in quest of those which should be real 
 and true. But his search was unrewarded. 
 He allied himself with these desperate char 
 acters, blinked at nothing, talked as loud 
 and drank as deep as they, went to their 
 camps or habitations with them, became for 
 the time one of their gang, friend of their 
 friends and enemy of their enemies and 
 yet, nothing happened. 
 
 But he enjoyed more every day the fresh 
 and racy flavors of the life. Freedom from 
 his old bonds was sweet enough, but free 
 dom of this sort put new blood into his 
 veins. His manners changed with his for 
 tune, and now the staid city of his birth a 
 month behind him, only a close observer 
 would have taken him for anything but a 
 Westerner of long experience which, we 
 may remark parenthetically, does not neces 
 sarily mean more than a year. Out there 
 time moves more swiftly, and a little of it 
 goes much farther than in the slower regions 
 of what we call civilization. Tom enjoyed 
 
74 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 the change so hugely that he hardly gave 
 himself the chance to feel disappointment 
 at the lack of actual events. It was excit 
 ing enough at first to be with men of this 
 sort and to be given the freedom, as it were, 
 of their past careers of crime and escape. 
 The escapes were so thrilling that he had 
 thrills himself only to hear them. 
 
 And his own transformation into the bold 
 swashbuckler of his imagination pleased him 
 mightily. He took to it all so quickly and 
 so naturally, that there was no effort to him 
 in the role. He liked to swagger and talk 
 big. He rather enjoyed the unwonted taste 
 of large oaths in his mouth. He gave his 
 humor free swing, and found that this raised 
 him high in the esteem of his rough com 
 panions. He made them laugh, and then 
 they liked him. His drollery was his pass 
 port to favor and grew with the appreciation 
 that it met. He had never earned the 
 reputation of being much of a wag, though 
 he had always himself been amused by his 
 own way of putting things. He enjoyed, 
 perhaps, as much as anything, this sensation 
 of having his jokes appreciated, and liked 
 to feel that he was a good American by in 
 heritance of humor. 
 
IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE 75 
 
 As the time drew on he found himsell 
 gravitating back towards the main line of 
 traffic, from which he had strayed far afield, 
 and to the region mentioned by Janet as her 
 first destination in the West, a stage, as it 
 were, of her journey. He arrived one even 
 ing at the brand-new town of Bud, being 
 brought thither on a branch line, which 
 gave him an hour to get his supper at the 
 Empire Hotel, and to make his connection 
 with the next train on the other road. But 
 when he found the whole little town agog 
 over a train robbery on the last train up on 
 the main line, he resolved to stay on until the 
 next day. It seemed that the robbery con 
 stituted one of a brilliant series which had 
 dazzled the whole locality in the last month 
 by their swiftness, effectiveness, and daring. 
 There was something in the way every one 
 spoke of the leader of the gang that appealed 
 powerfully to Tom s imagination. He was 
 a young fellow, apparently perfectly fearless, 
 so nonchalant in the pursuit of his risky 
 profession, and so easy and humorous in the 
 treatment of his victims, that instead of be 
 ing feared and detested, he seemed rapidly 
 on the way to become a popular idol. The 
 waiter at his table regaled Tom with anec- 
 
76 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 dotes of him, which, though they were on 
 the face of them, to even the most credu 
 lous hearer, of a legendary and impossible 
 quality, nevertheless interested Tom more 
 in their subject with every word. The very 
 fact that such elaborate and circumstantial 
 accounts were already current of his reck 
 lessness, his bravado, and his chivalry, es 
 tablished in Tom s mind the conviction that 
 he was an uncommon character, a modern 
 Robin Hood or Cellini or D Artagnan or 
 a mixture, perhaps, of the three, with the 
 typical touch of American humor to light 
 en and modernize it all. In any event, he 
 seemed to be the actual embodiment of all 
 that Tom was seeking, and it was borne in 
 upon our hero s mind that by hook or by 
 crook, fair means or dark ones, he must 
 make this man s acquaintance. 
 
 "By George!" he said to himself. 
 "Why shouldn t I join his gang? There 
 would be adventure with enough risk to 
 make any man s heart jump something 
 worth coming two or three thousand miles 
 for ! It is an honorable kind of thievery, 
 besides, and even if I am caught, it s a fel 
 low by some other name that s hanged, not 
 one of the junior partners in the respectable 
 
IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE 77 
 
 house of Norrie, Trumbull & Co. There s 
 no one to care what becomes of me, if I 
 don t bring disgrace on that honored name 
 or rather a cloud on its credit. Janet s 
 thrown me over and well, it would be as 
 good a way as any to prove that I am not a 
 coward. If only it wouldn t involve taking 
 other people s property ! That was very ro 
 mantic and proper three or four hundred 
 years ago but now, in 1895, somehow it 
 looks tremendously like stealing. 
 
 With which conflicting reflections, Mr. 
 Norrie strolled to the bar-room, having ab 
 sent-mindedly given his waiter a fee of a 
 size to cause that person s mouth to fall ajar 
 and his eyes to goggle with awestruck joy. 
 
 " Fraid to risk the trip to-night?" in 
 quired the hotel clerk and bartender, when 
 Tom announced that he should like a room 
 after all. 
 
 " Afraid what do you mean ? You don t 
 think there s any chance of the night train 
 being held up, do you?" asked Tom, 
 quickly. 
 
 " Well, no I don t guess there is. They 
 don t often hit twice run*in like that. But 
 I thought perhaps you might feel nervous 
 about night travelling all the same." 
 
78 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 "I m no such sissy as that/ remarked 
 Mr. Norrie, with easy nonchalance. " On 
 the contrary, I should rather like to meet 
 the gentlemen and observe their methods." 
 
 " Reckon you d not care to meet Tom 
 Nelson more n once. I ve not heard of any 
 body that was anxious to renew the acquaint 
 ance." 
 
 "You re mistaken there, Gus," said an 
 elderly smoker across the room. " One o 
 them gals up from Aurory for the ball the 
 prettiest one o the lot, too was just dead 
 stuck on him. Said he was as polite a gent 
 as she d ever met, and if twarn t for losin 
 her di monds she d like to be held up over 
 agin." 
 
 " She s the Sheriff s girl down to Aurory," 
 said another and younger gentleman. An 
 she bout runs the town herself. You can 
 see her down there any day doin bout as 
 she d n pleases, an lookin pretty s a peach, 
 too. She s got a skin like milk." 
 
 The hotel clerk was interested. "You 
 don t mean that stunnin tall girl in black 
 velvet and a corsij bokay ? " he inquired, 
 eagerly. 
 
 That very same, rejoined the previous 
 speaker. "Miss Geraldine Roray; com- 
 
IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE 79 
 
 monly called Jerroray just like they call her 
 dad the Terror of Aurory his name bein 
 Terrence and Terroray for short. She 
 knows how to dress way up, and the Terror 
 don t think nothin s too good for her. He 
 made a pile o plunks off Aurora s boom, 
 and now she s a spendin of em." 
 
 "Should think she did know how to 
 dress!" exclaimed the magnificent Augus 
 tus. "They ain t a girl in this town can 
 match the togs she had on to-night. See 
 here, Neddy Bedloe, will you introjuce me 
 to her? My time s up in twenty minutes, 
 and I m goin down to the hall for some fun. " 
 
 " Suppose I want all my own introjuc- 
 tions myself?" retorted Neddy, sarcasti 
 cally. "Suppose I m goin to have some 
 fun, too ? 
 
 " But you don t dance." 
 
 "Hey don t I? You wait and see! 
 Bet she dances with me twice to once with 
 you," said Mr. Bedloe. "I ain t got to 
 wait twenty minutes till my time s up," 
 with which he rose and went off grinning, 
 partly at his own cleverness and partly at 
 the discomfiture of the elegant Augustus, a 
 gentleman who roused affection in no one s 
 bosom. 
 
8o YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Bet your friend loses his wager," said 
 Tom, in an ingratiating manner, perceiving 
 his opportunity at this juncture. " A young 
 lady of so much taste as he ascribes to this 
 one doesn t want to circumnavigate a dance- 
 hall with a gentleman who gets himself up in 
 that style. How would he look embracing 
 any black velvet gown and corsij bokay, I 
 should like to know ? 
 
 Gus laughed with great cordiality. " Say, 
 you know what s what. Come along with 
 me, and we ll cut Neddy Bedloe out. She s 
 a daisy of a girl." 
 
 "I m your man," said Tom, shaking 
 hands energetically with his new friend. 
 " The young lady sounds interesting, and I 
 look forward to making her acquaintance." 
 
 "You ll have to look out for Charley 
 Shore," remarked a man who had not 
 spoken before. "She s his gal." 
 
 " Who s Charley Shore? " inquired Gus, 
 contemptuously. 
 
 "Feller down to Aurory." 
 
 "I ll wager even that she ain t no feller s 
 gal yet," said the humorous elderly smoker 
 who had first brought the young lady into 
 the discussion. " She don t look like it, an 
 she don t ac like it. The feller that come 
 
IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE 81 
 
 up with her, if that s Mr. Shore, he jus stood 
 by as tame as any kitten an heard her talk 
 about Tom Nelson. She said as how Tom 
 had more spunk in his little finger than most 
 any man she d ever seed in his whole body 
 an she admired a man that could hold up 
 trains like he could, four times runnin in 
 three weeks, an scare all Risin Sun County 
 an all Creesote, too, out o their boots. An 
 she specified further if ever she was such a 
 plumb idiot as to marry any man, she d look 
 out she got one as smart as him or else one 
 smart enough to get her her dimond neck- 
 liss back agin she warn t agoin to set up 
 housekeepin with no hundred - an - sixty- 
 pound baby, not she, and the reporter of 
 this vivacious conversation smiled with evi 
 dent relish at the recollection of its emphasis. 
 
 " She s engaged to Charley Shore, any 
 how," stated that gentleman s champion. 
 
 "Bein engaged don t count much with 
 gals nowadays," replied the man of wisdom. 
 " They take it like tryin on hats to the 
 milliner s you ve got to see lots before you 
 get one that suits." 
 
 " You seem to think you know a lot about 
 women, Swinney," remarked the hotel clerk, 
 coldly. 
 
82 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Well, an hadn t I oughter ? " retorted 
 Mr. Swinney, good-naturedly. "Buried 
 my fourth last month, an all my mother- 
 in-laws livin , and got six daughters o my 
 own, an three sons married to boot you 
 can just bet I ve had some experience with 
 the sex." 
 
 1 Has this same man really held up four 
 trains in three weeks ? " asked Tom, wishing 
 to get back to the previous question. 
 
 " Well, an where have you been that you 
 don t know it? " inquired Mr. Swinney, sus 
 piciously. 
 
 " This gentleman has only just arrived here 
 by train, an can t be expected to be fa 
 miliar with all our local news," said the 
 hotel clerk. " You haven t registered, by the 
 way," he added to Tom, pushing the open 
 book towards him. 
 
 Tom signed without a moment s hesita 
 tion, " J. Chance, Burr Oak, Nebraska." 
 
 " Glad to make your acquaintance, Mr. 
 Chance," said Gus, cordially. " My name s 
 Dicker Augustus B. Dicker." 
 
 Tom rejoined with equal cordiality, and 
 then Mr. Dicker excused himself to make his 
 toilet for the ball, his place being taken by 
 a scrawny boy. 
 
 
IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE 83 
 
 "Local news," murmured Mr. Swinney, 
 as if to himself, " Gus Dicker s crazy. These 
 here train robberies are a national disgrace. 
 They ain t nobody oughter be ignorant of 
 em let alone any traveller what has his 
 life in his hands." 
 
 " Well if you enlighten me, Mr. Swin 
 ney," said Tom, with engaging candor, 
 " then I shall no longer be ignorant." 
 
 This view of the matter appeared to appeal 
 to Mr. Swinney, and he forthwith narrated 
 all that was known of the train robberies 
 which had so upset Rising Sun and Creosote 
 Counties and alarmed the whole State. 
 
 A gang of masked men, computed to num 
 ber anywhere from fifteen to thirty, led by 
 the soft-voiced and gentlemanly desperado 
 who had won Miss Roray s admiration, had 
 terrorized train after train, met with no re 
 sistance whatever from train-crews or pas 
 sengers, and carried off large booty. They 
 seemed to have mysterious means of infor 
 mation, for in each case there had been con 
 signments of gold in the express-cars. Quan 
 tities of both money and valuables also had 
 been taken from the passengers. It was 
 generally estimated that in the three previ 
 ous hauls the robbers had secured something 
 
84 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 like $150,000, and this last raid had brought 
 them good treasure trove. The attacks had 
 followed each other in such rapid succession 
 that people had hardly had time to realize 
 what was happening and to take action upon 
 it. The sheriffs, whether they were paralyzed 
 by fright, which was not a likely hypothesis 
 in the case of Aurora s Terror, or had been 
 purchased by Mr. Nelson, which was even 
 less likely, at all events did not stir them 
 selves. There were forts full of soldiers 
 within short distance, but it was not easy 
 to set in motion the unwieldy and rust cov 
 ered machine that should in the end order 
 them into the field. Moreover, the difficul 
 ties in the way of accomplishing anything 
 were enormous. A handful of outlaws could 
 shift about with the greatest ease strike 
 here, strike there and be off before their 
 pursuers could know where they were, much 
 less attack them. 
 
 " Taint the millingtary nor the perlice 
 that s wanted it s public opinion," stated 
 Mr. Swinney. " Those men lives some- 
 wheres, and they gets food, and some folks 
 knows something about em, sure. But 
 they ain t nobody that s willin to let on. 
 In fact, they do it so awful cute that some- 
 
IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE 85 
 
 how people seem to be pleased by it, so long 
 as they don t lose no money themselves. 
 And there s actually some folks, like this 
 here Jerroray from Aurory, that even pears 
 to take pride in Tom Nelson an his goin s 
 on. Which I may say I can t sympathize 
 with." 
 
 "P raps if you d met him, like me, you 
 would sympathize," said a gaunt ranchman 
 in a red flannel shirt and long boots, shift 
 ing his quid with some embarrassment as all 
 eyes turned upon him. 
 
 "An then agin, perhaps I wouldn t," 
 retorted Mr. Swinney, with scorn. 
 
 "What was your experience?" asked 
 Tom with eager interest. 
 
 " I s on the last train he held up afore 
 this one, and when he come to me, says I to 
 him, Tom Nelson, says I, I m a poor 
 farmer, says I, an if you want my last 
 plunk you can have it, but my woman 11 
 have to go thout her new dress an the kid 
 won t get no go-cart. I reckon he ll cry, 
 says I, but here s ten dollars if you ve got 
 to have it, says I. Gentlemen, Tom Nel 
 son he handed over to me a ten dollar bill 
 outen his own pocket, he did. Keep your 
 plunks, says he, < and take this to buy yer 
 
86 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 kid a go-cart and anything else he d like as 
 a present from Tom Nelson. An I most 
 cleaned out the store up here to Bud, an 
 that kid he knows where it all comes from, 
 an you can bet Tom Nelson he ain t got 
 no enemies to our house. 
 
 "I heard he said he didn t want no 
 workin man s cash, nohow," said another 
 smoker. 
 
 " An I ve heard that he haint never took 
 no cash from coves what lives in Risin Sun 
 County or Creosote," said a fourth. 
 
 " How about these young ladies dimond 
 rings an bracelets an necklises, comin up 
 from Aurory to the ball to-night ? " inquired 
 Mr. Swinney, with sarcastic inflection. 
 
 " Dimonds ain t money, an you heard 
 em all say as how he give em back their 
 purses, an said he warn t the gent to deprive 
 a lady of her travellin expenses. 
 
 " Awful polite to give ladies back four or 
 five mean little dollars, when he s tuck jewels 
 worth a couple o hundred or so," was Mr. 
 Swinney s comment. 
 
 "Jewels is luxuries, he says," remarked 
 number three. "An I agree with him. 
 Anybody as can afford dimonds, an keep 
 em out o hock, too, for wearin purposes, 
 
IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE 87 
 
 ain t exactly poverty struck, an it ain t 
 agoin to break em to pay toll to Tom Nel 
 son. Tom Nelson don t want to break no 
 body." 
 
 "The poor man s friend?" suggested 
 Tom Norrie. 
 
 " Exactly ! " shouted Mr. Swinney. 
 " You ve hit it, Mr. Chance. He s the 
 poor man s friend, which no household 
 should be without him ! What did I tell 
 yer bout these folks bein on his side? 
 They ain t one of them here that d join a 
 posse to catch Tom Nelson. I m even 
 thinkin they d fight on his side, stid of 
 aginst him. None of em seems to recolleck 
 that he ain t no more n a common thief." 
 
 "Ain t no common thief about Tom Nel 
 son," declared one champion. 
 
 "He s a gentleman, Tom Nelson is, an 
 that s more n you can say o some folks what 
 ain t thieves," said another. 
 
 " Tom Nelson don t hurt us, an we ain t 
 goin to hurt him till he does," declaimed 
 the third. " He don t burgle our banks nor 
 our stores. He don t bleed the farmer nor 
 tech the upright citizen. He don t want to 
 scare our wives nor our kids, an he ll keep 
 on lettin us alone just as long as we let him 
 
88 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 alone. But if we try muxin with his busi 
 ness they ain t no tellin what he might do 
 to our n. Thief or no thief I m for lettin 
 of him alone an keepin on the good side of 
 him. This eloquent statement of the case 
 was followed by a little murmur of approval, 
 even from those that had at first seemed to 
 side with the strictures of Mr. Swinney. 
 
 " None of you ain t got no patriotism," 
 said that gentleman in disgust. " These 
 train robberies is a disgrace to the State an 
 to the whole country." 
 
 " Patriotism oughter begin at home, like 
 charity an them things," retorted the leader 
 of the majority. " An I guess we ll feel sat 
 isfied with ourn if Risin Sun and Creosote 
 Counties gets out of it with whole skins." 
 
 This sentiment was applauded warmly, 
 and Tom Norrie s interest in Tom Nelson 
 grew with the signs of his popularity. 
 
 " You fellers 11 be sending Mr. Nelson to 
 Congress next," he remarked. "Nobody 
 would have half a chance against him. I 
 believe you ll make him President of the 
 United States before you ve done with him." 
 
 The majority and minority both grinned 
 at this idea, but Tom s further questions 
 about the personality and methods of the 
 
IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE 89 
 
 outlaw were cut short by the appearance of 
 Mr. Dicker in full ball regalia. He wore 
 the regulation swallow-tail coat, with gray 
 trousers in a heavy stripe, a white pique 
 waistcoat cut high, a straight collar cut 
 higher, and a four-in-hand tie of pale blue 
 satin. By way of further decorations he had 
 on, of course, his diamond pin, a watch- 
 chain and charms festooned about the white 
 pique fagade, and several magnificent rings. 
 
 " Whew ! " said Tom, at sight of this re 
 splendent vision ; "if your town here s a 
 bud, I should say you were the full-blown 
 blossom ! 
 
 Everybody laughed again, but Mr. Dicker, 
 conscious of his superlatively fine appear 
 ance, was only flattered by these demonstra 
 tions, and swelled visibly at the plaudits of 
 his townsmen. 
 
 " I ll have to make a pretty big bluff at 
 Miss Roray, if I m going to get her eyes off 
 you," remarked Tom, further; and he and 
 Mr. Dicker made their exit amid renewed 
 gayety, while the whole assembly adjourned 
 to the ball-room to see the fun. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 FAIR LADY 
 
 There were many pretty girls at the ball, 
 but " Jerroray " was easily the prettiest and 
 easily the belle of the occasion. She was a 
 fine tall creature, of magnificent physical de 
 velopment, with a waist so small in com 
 parison with her full hips and swelling bust 
 that the alarmed spectator was perforce led 
 to wonder what she did with her inside an 
 atomy. There was surely not room within 
 that slender zone of velvet for the necessary 
 machinery to keep so much bloom still 
 blooming. Tom Norrie regarded it with 
 awe, and wondered, as most men do, why 
 women should consider such deformity beau 
 tiful. But the attractions of Miss Roray s 
 head being superlative, he did not look long 
 at these exaggerations of her figure. She 
 possessed a quantity of blonde hair, done up 
 in a great pointed knob high at the back, dec 
 orated lavishly with gold pins, and finished 
 
FAIR LADY 9 1 
 
 off with the usual thick fuzz around the 
 face. But her eyes were so large and clear, 
 her skin so dazzlingly white, her neck and 
 shoulders so splendid, that even this vulgar 
 and inartistic coiffure could not spoil her, 
 as it spoils so many merely pretty women. 
 And beneath the blonde fuzz that veiled 
 her forehead was the saving grace of dark, 
 straight eyebrows, which seemed to Tom 
 the means of rescuing her countenance from 
 the class of the colorless blonde, and invest 
 ing it at once with a quality of vividness, 
 and even daring, that he found wonderfully 
 attractive. 
 
 But the young lady s demeanor was not at 
 all that of daring and pride. She did not 
 hold her head particularly high, nor did she 
 often toss it. She appeared to be having an 
 extraordinarily good time, and she didn t in 
 the least mind showing it. This childlike 
 air of naive jollity seemed to Tom curiously 
 out of keeping both with her really splendid 
 beauty and with the magnificent simplici 
 ty of her attire. Her trained black velvet 
 fitted her superbly, its plainness showing 
 every line of her figure. The bodice was 
 cut extremely low, and the great puffs of the 
 sleeves were caught up to conceal as little as 
 
92 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 possible of the round, white arm. The only 
 relief in the severity of the gown came in 
 the heavy white lace around the open neck, 
 and in a great bunch of bluish purple flow 
 ers, which lay upon the bosom as if half to 
 cover the dazzling display permitted by the 
 low lines of the bodice. It was a costume 
 fit for a duchess, a costume that indicated 
 the dignity of pride and high -breeding, that 
 would have been appropriate to Miss Roray 
 had she been twice the age she seemed 
 (" by George," said Tom to himself, " what 
 a stunner she ll be at forty five times as 
 good looking as she is now ! ") and that 
 was singularly inappropriate to the easy man 
 ners and the romping merriment with which 
 she played her part in the festivities of the 
 evening. 
 
 " I ll be d d if she ain t the stunningest 
 girl I ever laid eyes on," said Mr. Dicker, 
 in a tone of suppressed enthusiasm. " Glad 
 I put on all my own clothes," he added, re 
 garding himself with fond pride before he 
 sallied forth to conquer. 
 
 But in spite of the quantity of clothes he 
 had put on, and all the lavish adornments of 
 his person, Mr. Dicker did not conquer ; nor 
 yet did Mr. Neddy Bedloe ; and Mr. Charley 
 
FAIR LADY 93 
 
 Shore himself, donor of the large solitaire 
 diamond which had decorated Miss Roray s 
 finger until it was removed by the train rob 
 ber this very night, even Mr. Charley Shore 
 was minus the extra privileges of an en 
 gaged man which had lately accrued to his 
 share. All these gentlemen were entirely 
 cast into the shade by a newcomer, and this 
 favored stranger was, to Tom s own surprise 
 and everyone else s, the gentleman who was 
 introduced as Mr. Chance, of Nebraska. 
 
 Tom s costume was anything but metro 
 politan ; like Mr. Bedloe, he had added 
 no embellishments for the occasion. Jerro- 
 ray scarcely noticed him as he was led up 
 to her to be presented by his elegant friend, 
 the hotel clerk. But from the moment Tom 
 began speaking to her, explaining his special 
 interest in making her acquaintance through 
 her reported interest in Mr. Nelson, the out 
 law, the young lady gave him an undivided 
 and complete attention. She looked be 
 wildered, puzzled, questioning, and her fine 
 brows drew closer together than ever in a 
 frown of perplexity. 
 
 "Say, you ain t from this vicinity, are 
 you?" she inquired after a minute, inter 
 rupting what he was saying. 
 
94 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 Tom admitted that he was not. 
 
 " Then where ve I seen you before ? " 
 
 Tom, being confident that she had never 
 seen him before, was unable to conjecture 
 where. 
 
 " Well, you re mighty familiar to me some 
 how. I don t know whether you favor any 
 of my friends or not, but anyhow seems as 
 
 if I d known you ever so long. You 
 
 seem so natural, somehow," she continued, 
 regarding him closely. " Don t he seem so 
 to you, Charley? Don t he seem awful nat 
 ural ? she inquired of Mr. Shore. 
 
 That gentleman somewhat gruffly couldn t 
 say that he did, couldn t say that there was 
 anything familiar to him in the appearance 
 or manners of Mr. Chance. 
 
 "Well, he seems awful natural to me," 
 repeated Miss Ro ray. "Awful nice, too," 
 she added, with a little laugh. " I can t 
 recolleck who you remind me of, but I know 
 it s somebody I liked," she declared with 
 artless candor. 
 
 "You are very flattering," said Tom, 
 with an elegant bow, quite out of keeping 
 with the character he had assumed in the 
 name of Chance. Then, the music striking 
 up, he covered his blushes by begging for a 
 
FAIR LADY 95 
 
 waltz, and Miss Roray, coolly requesting 
 Charley " to excuse her," granted him the 
 favor. 
 
 Now Tom, in the season of his court 
 ship of Janet Trumbull, had become an ex 
 pert dancer, and finding that he had an 
 excellent partner, he dropped at once into 
 his favorite rhythmical, smooth glide. It 
 pleased him that the young lady should ap 
 preciate this poetry of motion to the extent 
 of not spoiling it with attempts at conver 
 sation. 
 
 " My, but you just know how to waltz ! " 
 she declared when the music stopped. They 
 ain t a man in this room can do it like that. 
 Where d you learn ?" 
 
 11 The other side of the Mississippi River," 
 said Tom, with a smile. 
 
 Jerroray smiled, too. "You ain t goin 
 to tell me anything you don t want me to 
 know, are you ? " she inquired, shrewdly. 
 
 "Ah!" said Tom. "Do you think I 
 could conceal from you anything that you 
 cared to know about my insignificant self? 
 Speak the word and I lay before you my 
 whole history." 
 
 She looked puzzled for a moment, then 
 again broke into her easy smile. " Say, you 
 
96 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 ain t no such chump as that ! I know better ; 
 you re talkin through your hat ! " 
 
 "Well, if you don t want my history 
 you needn t have it especially if you ll 
 tell me your experiences with the train rob 
 ber. I understand you took quite a fancy 
 to him." 
 
 " I should just guess ! " said Miss Roray, 
 with emphasis. " Say, he was a real gentle 
 man, now, an you wouldn t expect that of 
 a highway robber, would you? I can tell 
 you, it just knocked me flat. 
 
 " Er how did he show it exactly? " 
 
 " Well, I ll tell you. It was this way. 
 Me n Charley was discussin the situation. 
 I had all my diamonds with me, an of 
 course I just hated to lose em, so I says to 
 Charley, I m goin to ask him to let me 
 have em back, says I. An Charley he 
 sat there shiverin like a mould o jelly, an 
 says he, If you ain t a d n fool, Geral- 
 dine, you ll keep your mouth shut for once, 
 unless you want your head bio wed off. An 
 that made me mad, an I says to Charley, 
 says I, Charley Shore, nothin ever gave 
 you any right to call me names or swear at 
 me, even if you are scared blue, an , says I, 
 I shall do as I like, says I. So when Tom 
 
FAIR LADY 97 
 
 Nelson got up to us I smiles at his old black 
 mask just as sweet as I knows how." 
 
 " It s uncommonly sweet, too," declared 
 Tom, with a sigh, " much too sweet for a 
 train robber ! 
 
 Get along," said Miss Roray, elegantly. 
 " An says I to him, Mr. Nelson, says I, 
 here s all my diamonds, says I ; if you 
 want to rob a poor girl who never did you 
 no harm, but I m likely to have a pretty 
 poor sort of a husband to support one o these 
 days, pointin over my shoulder to Char 
 ley, sittin there awful glum an scared an 
 there ll come a time when our last crust 11 
 be gone, an I shall want em awful bad to 
 put em up with my uncle, an get some 
 good, solid plunks in exchange else I ll 
 have to take in washin , says I. * You 
 wouldn t want me to take in washin , would 
 you, Mr. Nelson ? An he touched his hat 
 like a gentleman soon s I spoke to him, the 
 man behind a-keepin everybody else s hands 
 up all the time, an he a-drawin on me, an 
 now he began laffin as if he was awful 
 pleased ; an says he, My dear young lady, 
 says he them was his exact words I ll 
 have to take your diamonds now, but per 
 haps you ll see em again some day, an if 
 
9 8 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 you do, says he, < think of me. An let me 
 give you a little piece of advice, says he, < if 
 it ain t takin too great a liberty. < Not at 
 all, says I; advise ahead. Well, says 
 he, don t be in too much of a hurry to 
 marry, an when you do finally take the fatal 
 step, look out to get a man who ll not let 
 your diamonds be took away from you. An 
 then, allsmilin, he took Charley s things, 
 Charley bein as mad as hops, but forkin 
 em all over as meek s Pike s Peak. An 
 says I, < Oh ! I forgot my hairpins ; an says 
 he, < Let em alone; they look too attractive 
 to be disturbed. An he wouldn t take my 
 purse nor any of the girls , an for my part 
 I think he s just an elegant outlaw, and I d 
 like awful well to meet him again now, 
 wouldn t you? " 
 
 "Well I don t quite know," laughed 
 Tom. " Of course, not being an attractive 
 
 young lady " 
 
 "Oh, I mean if you was me. Somehow 
 I never dreamed Tom Nelson would be like 
 that. I sort o expected he d be harsh with 
 me, like Charley said, and tell me to hold 
 my gab; but my! you don t often meet a 
 politer young gent. Say, don t you think it 
 would be fun to be a highway robber or a 
 
FAIR LADY 99 
 
 pirate, or somethin of that sort ? Seems to 
 me it s awful romantic." 
 
 "It would be just immense fun," said 
 Tom, with genuine enthusiasm. "If you 
 could only have the risk and the excitement 
 without being a thief, I d join Tom Nelson s 
 gang to-morrow." 
 
 "Say, you re a peach ! Shake ! " and 
 this engaging young woman held out her 
 hand with an enthusiasm that matched his 
 own. It was a fine large hand, such as suited 
 the generous proportions of its owner, and 
 there was nothing coy or squeamish in its 
 frank, warm grasp. 
 
 Messrs. Dicker, Bedloe, Shore & Co. ob 
 served this passage of hands with rage in 
 their hearts, and at a later day Tom had 
 cause to regret the enmity so innocently 
 earned. But he was really not monopolizing 
 Jerroray any more than she was monopoliz 
 ing him ; and at all events they were both so 
 absorbed that they were happily unaware of 
 the malevolent glances that fell upon them. 
 
 " You know I like a man that s got some 
 spunk," continued Miss Roray, explaining 
 her impulse while her hand w r as still in 
 Tom s. " To tell the plain truth, I m get- 
 tin awful sick of Charley Shore. Funny, 
 
ioo YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 too, when it warn t two months ago I was 
 dreadful stuck on him ! I know why well 
 enough, too. He s sort of a pretty feller, 
 an he looked so kind o nice and mannish 
 in his dress suit, an then there was some- 
 thin awful fascinatin bout the way he 
 smoked cigarettes. I used to watch him light 
 em and then puff away so easy, an think I 
 wouldn t mind a bit havin him try to kiss 
 me, though I always slapped the other fellers. 
 So when he popped I said Yes, though my 
 dad told me I was an awful fool an Ter 
 ence was right, too, an I ll tell him so when 
 I go home to-morrer. But I can t give 
 Charley back his ring," she added, with her 
 little laugh. " He ll have to ask Tom Nel 
 son for that ! 
 
 " Poor Mr. Shore ! " said Tom. " Is his 
 fate sealed ? Has it all happened in a day, 
 or had the course of love been checkered 
 previously ? 
 
 " Oh, well, we ve quarrelled a lot, of 
 course, because Charley s awful exactin , an* 
 I ve been brought up to do as I please, an 
 no questions asked. I couldn t stand his 
 interferin way, an give him notice to quit 
 long ago, but I don t know s I thought I 
 shouldn t marry him until to-night. Some- 
 
FAIR LADY 101 
 
 how, if there s anything in the world I hate 
 it s a coward, an I can t get over his sittin 
 there, in a blue funk like, an handin his 
 things over to Tom Nelson just as cheap s 
 dirt, an never sayin a word ! I tell you he 
 didn t look very pretty then, an I can t 
 make it seem that he ever will look pretty 
 to me again ! 
 
 " He couldn t very well have resisted Mr. 
 Nelson," said Tom, in a spirit of fairness, 
 remembering how his own engagement had 
 been broken on similar grounds. Were 
 women all alike after all? Did his dark, 
 fascinating Janet, highly educated and re 
 fined as she was, think and feel like this ex 
 traordinary flower of Western civilization ? 
 But he hadn t much time for reflection, for 
 Jerroray was replying with voluble sarcasm 
 to his defence of her fiance, and he had to 
 listen and laugh. 
 
 "Oh, no," she said. "Of course he 
 couldn t very well resist that s what all the 
 men think poor scared little dears ! an so 
 Mr. Tom Nelson has his way with us, an 
 ropes in the plunks an the diamonds. I 
 look pretty without my necklace, don t I? " 
 
 "You do, indeed," declared Tom, with 
 sincerity. 
 
102 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " It s nice, ain t it, to go to a ball with 
 out any jewels ? No bracelets, no pins, no 
 decorations of any sort I tell you I feel 
 about half dressed. An you needn t let on 
 to me that if any one man on a train had the 
 spunk to get up an make a stand some of 
 the rest wouldn t help him, an they couldn t 
 clean out the train robbers in less time than 
 it takes to tell it. No, sir, I know better. 
 They say Tom Nelson s got a great big gang 
 but he had only one man in our car to keep 
 hands held up, an one to watch the engi 
 neer and fireman, an , so far as heard from, 
 one other watchman who was poppin away 
 outside to keep the folks scared. Now, of 
 course, there may have been twenty men 
 round the train, but that s all anybody saw 
 or knew about, an I ll bet you even that 
 he ain t got in all more n six men to help 
 him. My theory about Tom Nelson is that 
 he s puttin up a great big bluff, an if any 
 of these tame lambs round here that call 
 emselves men had any spunk at all they could 
 just call his hand and show him up. But 
 there ain t one that s a match for him an 
 that s what I like about him, an don t like 
 about your Shores and your Dickers an your 
 this and thats. I like men an not sheep." 
 
FAIR LADY 103 
 
 "I m sure the men would reciprocate, if 
 there were any," said Tom. 
 
 "Well, now," declared the young lady, 
 " you re what I call a man. You could see 
 the fun in bein a train robber, an you d 
 like to hold up trains yourself, but when I 
 asked Charley Shore, he just turned up his 
 nose awful pious, an says he, No man as 
 is a man could ever do anything so low an 
 dishonest common thievin it is an no 
 more. An says I to him, No man as is a 
 sheep, which, it seems to me, you all are 
 round here, would ever dare do anything 
 so gritty an smart. You d be scared out 
 o your lives an funk it all. An then 
 says he, Geraldine (when he calls me 
 Geraldine that means he s mad), < you re 
 crazy, an says I to him, Charles, you re 
 a timid little babe. An then we stopped 
 talkin , an I ve only danced with him 
 once to-night, an to-morrer he ll get the 
 mitten." 
 
 "Poor Mr. Shore," said Tom, with feel 
 ing ; then added, gallantly, " but the world s 
 the gainer. 
 
 " The world ? " queried Miss Roray, puz 
 zled. 
 
 " The other men who were left before to 
 
104 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 envy Mr. Shore his luck," explained Tom. 
 1 Now we all have a chance ! 
 
 1 Oh, said Jerroray , you meant that ? 
 Then she turned her big gray eyes squarely 
 into his for a moment, with a look which 
 was much more of curious scrutiny and con 
 sideration than of coquetry. " Well," she 
 remarked, finally, " if you call it a chance, 
 all I can say is that the man who gets me 
 back my diamonds will have about all there 
 is of it." 
 
 " You mean that? " said Tom. 
 
 " You bet," she replied, briefly. " I al 
 ways mean what I say. An I m pretty 
 safe on this, because it ll take considerable 
 more n any chump to beat Tom Nelson." 
 
 " That s true enough," said Tom. 
 "You ve given us a magnificent chance a 
 chance in the first place to prove we aren t 
 chumps, and in the second place to win a 
 splendid reward for not being chumps." 
 
 " But suppose you don t any of you get 
 em, what ll I do then?" inquired Miss 
 Roray, with great seriousness. 
 
 "That is a predicament which I can t 
 contemplate with equanimity," returned 
 Mr. Norrie, with equal gravity. 
 
 " I know; I ll hunt up Tom Nelson and 
 
FAIR LADY 105 
 
 Set my cap for him ! " cried the young 
 lady. "You know I don t think it would 
 be half bad fun to marry a train robber. It 
 would be an awful excitin life you d never 
 get bored and wish you d married some 
 more entertainin gent." 
 
 If you talk that way I shall become an 
 outlaw at once in good earnest," declared 
 Tom. 
 
 Jerroray emitted her pleased little laugh. 
 " Say, you re awful nice. Wish I could 
 think who you remind me of." 
 
 " Oh, don t bother about that; it just 
 wastes time in which you might be thinking 
 of me directly, if you would deign to be so 
 very kind and flattering," and Tom bowed 
 humbly. 
 
 " I ll bet you ve got another girl some 
 where that you like better n me, for all your 
 fine speeches," said Miss Roray, shrewdly. 
 1 Hain t you, now? Well, you needn t 
 look at me like that, or Charley Shore 11 bite 
 your head off. Goodness gracious, what a 
 lot of time I ve been spendin on you any 
 how ! How many dances have we missed ? 
 Come, I must be hustlin round an gettin 
 my card worked off. 
 
 " You must give me some more dances," 
 
io6 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 said Tom, trying to get possession of the 
 much pencilled card which she brandished 
 before him. 
 
 "No, siree, Chance not just now. 
 You ve had enough for the present. But 
 later on in the evenin we ll talk about it, 
 an if you take a shine to go down to Aurory 
 with me to-morrer mornin , I ll undertake 
 to make you have a bang-up good time." 
 
 "Agreed," said Tom. "I was going 
 anyway, but I m all the more glad to be 
 invited, and if I m to be your knight and 
 look up your property, you ve got to fit me 
 out with your colors, power of attorney, and 
 other trifles of that nature. 
 
 " Not much," retorted Miss Roray. " If 
 you can t do it on your own hook you 11 get 
 no help from me." And she blew him a 
 saucy kiss as she waltzed away on the arm 
 of Mr. Augustus Dicker, who glowered 
 blackly at Mr. Chance, as, indeed, he had 
 been doing industriously for half an hour or 
 more, in company with several other gentle 
 men, who shared his grievance. 
 
 "Well," said Tom to himself, here s my 
 chance for an adventure at last, and I 
 couldn t ask for a better ! A youthful pirate, 
 who is at the same time a popular idol, to 
 
FAIR LADY 107 
 
 be encountered in the gallant behalf of a 
 young lady, who talks slang and bad gram 
 mar, yet dresses like a duchess and is as 
 handsome a woman as I ve ever seen yes, 
 handsomer than Janet even. . . . But, 
 suppose I secure the diamonds and she falls 
 on my neck for gratitude ? A man might do 
 worse than marry so engaging a young per 
 son but do I want to marry ? And am I 
 fitted to make the fair Jerroray happy ? 
 
 He laughed spontaneously at the thought 
 of such a matrimonial joke, and the ladies 
 and gentlemen in the vicinity stared at his 
 solitary merriment. 
 
 < But when a hero begins to reflect he 
 ceases to be a hero, went on Mr. Norrie ; 
 "and if I m going in for this adventure I 
 must take it as it comes, a day at a time, 
 and let the future attend to itself. If the 
 young lady elects to marry me, I must meet 
 my fate like a man and surely it would be 
 difficult to find a more entertaining life com 
 panion. So hurrah for the blooming West ! 
 Three cheers for Tom Nelson ! Jerroray for 
 ever ! And in excellent humor with him 
 self and the world about him, Mr. Norrie 
 proceeded to enter into the festivities of the 
 evening with a zest which made him an im- 
 
io8 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 mediate favorite with all the young women, 
 and an object of envy and admiration with 
 most of the young men. The gaudy, gilded 
 lodge-room, the queer customs of the socie 
 ty in which he found himself, the peculiar 
 notions of dress and manners, were all 
 sources of pleasure to our hero, and his de 
 light was crowned by the evident partiality 
 evinced towards him increasingly, as the 
 night wore on, by the blooming Geraldine. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 A QUIET LITTLE GAME 
 
 As Tom came into the bar-room the next 
 morning after breakfast, Mr. Dicker and his 
 allies of the foregoing evening responded but 
 coldly to his greetings. A young man, tall 
 and slight, somewhat of Tom s own build, 
 was leaning on the bar and turning over the 
 leaves of the hotel register, and as Tom said 
 good - morning to Mr. Dicker this young 
 man looked up quickly, and regarded our 
 hero with a pair of very keen, dark eyes, 
 during the colloquy that followed. 
 
 Tom began by offering Mr. Dicker a ci 
 gar, with an urbanity that slightly thawed 
 that gentleman s chilly demeanor. 
 
 " I say, Dicker, what time does the morn 
 ing train go to to Bloomer ? 
 
 "Ten o clock," replied Mr. Dicker. 
 Are you a-goin to Bloomer ? " he then 
 inquired, with a touch of suspicion in his 
 voice. 
 
no YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 "I am contemplating that trip," was 
 Tom s reply. 
 
 " Thought you might prefer stoppin off 
 at Aurory," remarked the hotel clerk, sar 
 castically, with a wink at the gallery behind 
 Tom. 
 
 Tom looked perfectly innocent. " Is 
 Aurora much of a place worth stopping 
 at? " he asked. 
 
 11 Depends on whether you re interested 
 in its products," and Mr. Dicker laughed in 
 a suggestive manner. 
 
 " Seems to produce very pretty girls," 
 said Tom, coolly. " What else? Is there 
 a good hotel as good as this ? 
 
 "The Empire Hotel is the best this side 
 of Bloomer," declared Mr. Dicker, proudly. 
 "But the Palace down at Aurory is fair. 
 Proprietor s a chump; he s his own clerk 
 and general manager, and don t even know 
 how to dress but the house is decent. 
 
 " I say, Dicker, you ve got so much taste 
 in dress, why don t you publish a bulletin 
 to give points to us fellers that s less gifted ? 
 Bud s Monthly Blossom you could call it, 
 with your own portrait in your newest cos 
 tume on the front page of every issue. I ve 
 knocked about a good deal, but I never saw 
 
A QUIET LITTLE GAME in 
 
 a man dressed the way you were last night. 
 Hope you don t mind being copied, for 
 I propose to go and get some togs like 
 em." 
 
 This was delivered so coolly and naturally 
 that Mr. Dicker could not suspect that game 
 was being made of him. He fell neatly into 
 the trap of flattery, and expatiated on his 
 views of dress, to the evident pleasure of the 
 other young man as well as of Tom Norrie. 
 
 " Let me make you acquainted with Mr. 
 Potts, Mr. Chance, said the hotel clerk, as 
 Mr. Potts evinced a desire to enter into the 
 conversation. He coughed and cleared his 
 throat, and his voice, when he did speak, 
 was very hoarse and thick. 
 
 "Jack Potts, representing the firm of 
 Finkstein, Moses & Levi, leading wholesale 
 jewellers, of Chicago, at your service," he 
 said in a tone which, in spite of the unat 
 tractive voice, suggested somehow to Tom 
 that all life was a good joke, and prepos 
 sessed him at once in Mr. Potts s favor. 
 
 And a very popular gent wherever he 
 goes," supplemented Mr. Dicker. 
 
 "Jack-pots generally are popular," re 
 joined Mr. Potts, easily. 
 
 Tom, on further scrutiny, was thoroughly 
 
112 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 pleased with the looks of his new acquaint 
 ance, and laughed cordially at this witti 
 cism as he shook hands with him. But just 
 at that moment, hearing a rustle of skirts in 
 the hall beyond, and catching a glimpse of 
 Jerroray on her way to the dining-room, he 
 begged to be excused and hurried after her, 
 followed by many malevolent glances. 
 
 "Who is he?" inquired Jack Potts at 
 once, in a confidential undertone, with a 
 look of the deepest interest on his keen and 
 clever face. 
 
 " No good," rejoined the sapient Mr. 
 Dicker. Turned up here last night never 
 saw him before." 
 
 " What time last night ? " 
 
 " Nine o clock or so." 
 
 " Where from? " 
 
 " Said he came up on the Red Gulch 
 Road. Didn t say where from. Not a com 
 municative gent." 
 
 Jack Potts shrugged his shoulders. " Per 
 haps he has good reason." 
 
 "What do you mean?" asked Mr. 
 Dicker, eagerly. 
 
 " Oh, nothin . He seems a good fellow 
 nough but somehow well he struck me 
 as a bit shady. Can t think who he reminds 
 
A QUIET LITTLE GAME 113 
 
 me of," went on Mr. Potts, in a puzzled tone. 
 " Where d he register from? " 
 
 "Some backwoods place in Nebraska," 
 said Mr. Dicker. "Say, you seem to be 
 catchin cold?" 
 
 Jack Potts, without answering, but sup 
 pressing a cough, turned to the name in the 
 register. " < J. Chance, " he said. " Burr 
 Oak, Nebraska. He s no more from Ne 
 braska than I am. He s an Easterner. 
 < Chance, that s a queer name. Who d 
 he go out to see just now ? " he questioned, 
 suddenly. 
 
 " Jerry Roray, a silly little flirt up from 
 Aurory, that he met at the ball last night." 
 
 "Oh, he went to the ball?" 
 
 " I was fool enough to take him," said 
 Mr. Dicker. " He n this girl got stuck on 
 each other right off. Stunnin lookin girl 
 dressed way up but an awful fool. Lost 
 her diamonds an things on the train up 
 here last night, but took just as much pride 
 in Tom Nelson as if she was his best girl. 
 An this little Chance he sailed in and piled 
 up the gush on Tom Nelson, and so she 
 thinks he s as brave as a lion, and every 
 other man a coward, and dances with him 
 most all night. He had on just them same 
 
H4 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 clothes he s wearin this mornin , too; you 
 wouldn t suppose a girl d look at him, but 
 he s cute, he is," said Mr. Dicker, bit 
 terly. 
 
 "Gushed about Tom Nelson, did he? " 
 queried Jack Potts. " What did he say ? " 
 
 " Oh, a lot of rot ; asked all sorts of ques 
 tions about him ; let on he d never even heard 
 of these train robbers ; said Nelson must be 
 a smart cuss, an he wouldn t mind bein a 
 train robber himself if it weren t for the 
 thievin . That s what took Jerry Roray. 
 She thought he must be awful brave to talk 
 like that. Bet you if Mr. Chance ever met 
 Tom Nelson he d cut an run for his life." 
 
 "You don t like him?" 
 
 " He talks too much to suit me. Lays it 
 on too thick," explained Mr. Dicker. 
 
 " Wish I could remember who he reminds 
 me of," said Jack Potts again. "Or else 
 I ve seen him before somewheres. I have 
 it it s his voice ! He talks for all the world 
 like Tom Nelson himself! " 
 
 " You don t say ! " exclaimed Mr. Dicker. 
 " You was in that first hold up, warn t you? 
 Come here that night ? 
 
 "Yes," said Jack Potts. "Of course 
 Nelson was masked. He was a tall, slight 
 
A QUIET LITTLE GAME 115 
 
 feller pretty much the same figure as this 
 Chance of Nebraska. I noticed his voice 
 particularly, for I saw that was about all he 
 
 could be identified by, and I ll be d d 
 
 if this feller don t talk just like him. Say, 
 if he s goin down to Aurora, guess I ll go 
 on the same train and keep an eye on him. 
 He strikes me as rather interestin . I ll just 
 hustle out and finish up my business here in 
 a hurry." 
 
 Whereupon Mr. Potts went out on the 
 street at once in haste, leaving Mr. Dicker 
 agog with unjust suspicions, in regard to our 
 hero. Nor was he slow in sharing them 
 with Mr. Shore, Mr. Bedloe, and other ag 
 grieved parties of the night before, whose 
 curiosity had been greatly roused by the bits 
 they had caught of Mr. Potts s discreet con 
 versation. 
 
 So when Tom, escorting Miss Roray, took 
 the ten o clock train down from Bud, he 
 was, as the dime novels would put it, a 
 marked man, though he, in his innocence, 
 thought the unkind glances directed at him 
 were all to be charged to Jerroray s account. 
 But he found himself so fascinated by that 
 young lady s genial frankness of demeanor, 
 and so content in her society, that these un- 
 
n6 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 pleasant signs and portents had no deterrent 
 effect upon him. He would have monop 
 olized her all the way to Aurora had she 
 permitted, and she might have permitted 
 but for some occurrences not planned for or 
 expected. 
 
 Miss Roray s appetite was excellent, and 
 she had lingered so long over the breakfast 
 table with Tom chatting beside her that they 
 nearly missed the train. When they en 
 tered it all the seats upon the shady side 
 were taken. Tom nodded to Mr. Jack 
 Potts as he passed him, occupying alone one 
 of these more desirable seats, and then placed 
 his fair companion in the full sunshine a lit 
 tle back on the opposite side. Mr. Shore, 
 Mr. Bedloe, and other well known gentle 
 men from Aurora, some accompanied by 
 their ladies, and some alone, glowered at 
 them, each from his own separate shady 
 seat, up and down the car, but offered not 
 to rise. 
 
 " Polite, ain t they? " observed Jerroray, 
 audibly. " I do admire their manners ! 
 
 Who was that gent you bowed to 
 
 comin in ? " she asked the next moment, 
 in a lower tone. 
 
 "A drummer I met at the hotel," said 
 
A QUIET LITTLE GAME 117 
 
 Tom. " In the jewelry business. Jack 
 Potts by name." 
 
 Jolly name sounds as gamy as he 
 looks." 
 
 " I thought his way of looking at you a 
 little too gamy." 
 
 " He did give me a pretty steady eye/ 
 replied Jerroray, complacently, < but a girl 
 don t mind that so long as there s nothin 
 disrespec ful in it. If a man don t know 
 her it s his way of sayin he likes her looks, 
 an every girl likes her looks liked." 
 
 "You re all sad flirts, in other words," 
 observed Tom, " and the prettier you are 
 the worse flirts. I m afraid the lucky dog 
 that gets your diamonds for you will enter 
 that day upon a troublous life." 
 
 " Well, if you ain t afraid of Tom Nelson 
 guess you needn t be afraid of me," laughed 
 Miss Roray, good-humoredly. At the men 
 tion of Tom Nelson s name Jack Potts start 
 ed and turned quickly, looking in their di 
 rection. Now he at once rose and approached 
 Tom, lifting his hat, with a pleasant smile. 
 
 " Wouldn t you be able to make your 
 lady-friend more comfortable on the shady 
 side of the car?" he inquired. "You re 
 welcome to my seat." 
 
n8 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Oh, thank you, Potts," said Tom, turn 
 ing to Miss Roray, to see how she looked 
 upon the offer. 
 
 "That s what I call polite," remarked 
 that fair lady - friend, emphatically, rising 
 to make the transit, and suggesting to Tom 
 that he should introduce the gent. 
 
 Tom did so, and Jerroray and Mr. Potts 
 shook hands with each other before she 
 passed on into his seat and settled herself 
 there with great airs of satisfaction. " You 
 killed two birds with one stone that time, 
 Mr. Potts," she remarked, in a friendly tone. 
 
 " How so ? " he queried, following them 
 as she had intended. 
 
 " You made me your grateful friend for 
 ever, and you set a good example to all 
 these country -jakes, that don t know how 
 to treat a lady." This remark was plainly 
 audible to most occupants of the car, and so 
 was Mr. Potts s ingenious and tactful reply. 
 
 " Ah ! you must not judge us too harshly. 
 Any gentleman here would doubtless have 
 given you his seat, but to give it to you and 
 another gentleman really, Miss Roray, isn t 
 that a little too much ? " 
 
 "But you did it." 
 
 " I only saw you first five minutes since. 
 
A QUIET LITTLE GAME 119 
 
 If it had been ten minutes I can t answer 
 for what I might have done," and Mr. 
 Potts bowed gallantly. "Besides, you for 
 get the other bird I killed. I secured an 
 introduction to you by my wholly disinter 
 ested act." 
 
 You drummers have got more face ! 
 declared Miss Roray, with her little pleased 
 laugh. " But you do know how to say 
 things awful cute. You re a drummer, too, 
 ain t you, Chance?" she asked, drawing 
 Tom back into the conversation from which 
 he had felt a trifle left out. 
 
 " Does that imply that I, too, say things 
 awful cute ? asked Tom, amused at her 
 cleverness, but flattered in spite of himself. 
 
 "You ve a pretty neat turn to your 
 tongue, I ve noticed, which always reminds 
 me of the travellin perfession. These stay- 
 at-homes down at Aurory, like Charley 
 Shore for instance, may mean more n you 
 fellers do but they can t say it. They can 
 feel an awful lot, but stayin at home don t 
 make em think very quick, somehow," and 
 the young lady smiled pleasantly at both 
 young men, as she uttered this Shakespearean 
 truth to wits that were certainly not home- 
 keeping. 
 
120 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 I always mean a good deal more than I 
 say," declared Mr. Chance, of Nebraska, 
 gazing eloquently into Miss Roray s eyes. 
 
 "And I say what I mean, at least," put 
 in Jack Potts, quickly, " and answer ques 
 tions, too, when they re asked me by beau 
 tiful and discernin young ladies." 
 
 Jerroray laughed. " If that s a hit at 
 Chance it won t have any effect on him," 
 she said. "I ve asked him lots of questions, 
 but he s got out of em all. He don t in 
 tend to give himself away ! 
 
 "Prince in disguise, eh?" asked Jack 
 Potts, genially. 
 
 " That must be it ! " she cried, delighted. 
 
 1 ( Wish I could think who you remind me 
 of, said the drummer to Tom ; "or else 
 I ve seen you before somewhere. 
 
 " Say, that s exactly what I feel about 
 him," cried Miss Roray. " Ain t that funny 
 now ? It runs in my head all the time, but 
 I can t get hold of it. 
 
 " I seem to be a mysterious character," 
 observed Tom. " I can assure you, how 
 ever, that I ve not seen either of you before. 
 Do you imagine I could forget it if I d ever 
 put my eyes on you ? " he asked Miss Ro 
 ray, impressively. 
 
A QUIET LITTLE GAME 121 
 
 " I say," said Mr. Potts, " it s your voice. 
 Ain t that it, Miss Roray?" 
 
 " Perhaps it is," she replied, in a puzzled 
 tone. " But I can t think who it s like." 
 
 " I can," declared Jack Potts, in a tone 
 so significant that they both quickly looked 
 at him. "His voice is like one that I ve 
 heard only once you ve heard it, too, Miss 
 Roray, but you didn t see the man s face 
 it came from behind a black mask." 
 
 Jerroray emitted a round whistle of as 
 tonishment. "By George, that s so!" 
 she cried. "Your voice is just like Tom 
 Nelson s ? That s what made me like you 
 so much/ she exclaimed, triumphantly. " I 
 told you you reminded me of somebody 
 nice, and it s that polite Mr. Nelson all the 
 time." 
 
 "That s queer," said Tom. "What is 
 there about my voice ? " 
 
 " It s sort of deep and clear and and 
 gentlemanly," explained Jerroray. 
 
 "And you both pronounce your words 
 different from us Westerners," said Jack 
 Potts, in his hoarse, thick tones. "More 
 like Easterners but you re a Nebraskan, 
 ain t you, too? " 
 
 " Yes," said Tom. 
 
122 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LITE 
 
 "Native?" queried Jack Potts, almost 
 quizzically. 
 
 "Yes," said Tom. 
 
 " Well, now, he s answered one question, 
 anyhow," exclaimed Miss Roray. " May 
 be we can get his whole history if we keep 
 on drawin him out ten or a dozen years. 
 Pretty slow fishin , though." 
 
 " Well," said Tom, somewhat embarrassed 
 by the personal turn the talk had taken and 
 the inconvenient definiteness of the fibs it 
 had led him into. "I m happy to resemble 
 Mr. Tom Nelson in any particular. He s a 
 plucky fellow, and has my sincere admira 
 tion." 
 
 " I like him, too," admitted Jack Potts. 
 " If I run across him anywheres I m not 
 goin to give him away. He stuck me for 
 thirty dollars, but I charged it to the firm, 
 and didn t bear him any malice, for he did 
 it like a gentleman." 
 
 "Was you held up too? " inquired Jer- 
 roray, eagerly. " Which time ? " 
 
 " First," replied Mr. Potts. 
 
 " Was you scared much ? " 
 
 "Well, no," and Mr. Potts smiled as if 
 in pleasant reminiscence of his courage. 
 
 " Not ? What did you do then ? " 
 
A QUIET LITTLE GAME 123 
 
 "Unfortunately I wasn t armed; but 
 though I ve carried a revolver ever since I ve 
 not had the luck to fall in with Mr. Nelson 
 again not when he was on the warpath, 
 that is " this with a quick look at Tom, 
 intercepted by Miss Roray, who also glanced 
 sharply, but with a puzzled expression at the 
 innocent countenance of Mr. Chance, of 
 Nebraska. 
 
 " But what would you do if you did fall 
 in with him? " she pursued, after a moment. 
 
 "I d hold him up." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 " That s a little private scheme of my own. 
 I don t want to 1 give it away and have some 
 other feller get the glory of it. Besides, you 
 might one of you go and tell Tom Nelson, 
 and then he d be on his guard," and Jack 
 Potts gave Mr. Chance another suggestive 
 look, which was again noticed by the young 
 lady. 
 
 "You know it would really be an easy 
 thing to hold him up," said Tom, oblivious 
 to these signs. 
 
 "That s what I think," said Mr. Potts. 
 
 " Nerve and quickness, and your blinds 
 closed so the men outside couldn t pop you 
 off." 
 
124 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 Jack Potts s face fell and he looked grave 
 for a moment. 
 
 "I ve made up my mind to keep my blinds 
 down altogether on night trains now," went 
 on Tom, "and to sit pretty well front in the 
 car. Then when Nelson is two-thirds of the 
 way down just pop off the man at the top 
 end and draw on him, and by that time 
 there d be half a dozen revolvers out." 
 
 "My!" exclaimed Jerroray. "Would 
 you really dare ? 
 
 "He might dare," said Mr. Potts, with 
 sarcasm, " but doin it s a different matter. 
 Mr. Chance seems to have ideas on the sub 
 ject, however," he went on. " He s evi 
 dently been there." 
 
 " Been there ! " said Tom. " I was never 
 held up in my life." 
 
 "And never held anybody up either?" 
 queried Jack Potts, in the same half-jocose, 
 half-suggestive manner as before. 
 
 "Held anybody up?" said Tom, puz 
 zled. " Why, of course not. But you 
 know, I think it would be mighty good fun," 
 he added. "Miss Roray and I quite agree 
 about it. She wouldn t mind being an out 
 law one bit, she says, so I m going to try to 
 persuade her to go on the road with me." 
 
A QUIET LITTLE GAME 125 
 
 "You d be a pretty successful team, I 
 imagine," said Jack Potts, again in the 
 suggestive tone, with a smile at Miss 
 Roray. 
 
 That young woman, with a more than 
 ever puzzled expression, started as if to 
 blurt out some question, but Mr. Potts s fin 
 ger on his lips stopped her with the words 
 at the end of her tongue. Tom, sitting be 
 tween the two, and with Jack Potts bending 
 over him, did not notice this interchange of 
 understanding, and Miss Roray quickly re 
 covered herself. 
 
 " Chance hasn t ever asked me to drive 
 double with him, yet," she said, with that 
 frank and artless coquetry that Tom found 
 so beguiling. 
 
 - Oh, I don t dare, of course till I 
 bring you the diamonds," he declared. 
 
 "What s that?" questioned Mr. Potts, 
 with quick curiosity. Jerroray started to 
 reply, but Tom stopped her. 
 
 " Don t tell him," he begged. " Don t 
 tell anybody. I want the chance all to my 
 self." 
 
 "But that ain t fair to me," said the 
 young lady. "I want more Chances than 
 one, you see." 
 
126 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " When that one is devoted to you, heart 
 and soul?" questioned Tom, impressively. 
 
 "Come, now you re just gassing you 
 don t mean that," giggled the young lady. 
 
 If there are any chances going, do give 
 me one," put in Mr. Potts. 
 
 "Now I think that s only fair," said 
 Jerroray. "I ll tell you, Potts, I ve been 
 engaged to Charley Shore, an Aurory feller, 
 for two months, but it sort o sickened me 
 the way he behaved in the train robbery last 
 night, so I says to Chance, says I, Char 
 ley 11 get the mitten to-morrer, says I. 
 < Poor Mr. Shore, says he, but the world s 
 the gainer meanin , as he explained, that 
 it gave other fellers, includin himself, a 
 chance. So I says, says I, If it s chances 
 you re talkin about, the feller that brings 
 me back my diamonds will have it all, says 
 I and that s the chance Chance wants all 
 to himself, but which, it seems to me, ain t 
 fair to me. Now what do you think, 
 Potts?" 
 
 "I think Mr. Chance is awfly selfish, 
 though I can t exactly blame him for it, for 
 I m sure in his place I d have done the same 
 thing. And I d suggest, Miss Roray, that 
 you don t tell any one else leave it as a 
 
A QUIET LITTLE GAME 127 
 
 duel, so to speak, between Chance and my 
 self." 
 
 " Now you re as bad as he is. I sha n t 
 do that at all. I shall tell everybody, even 
 poor little Charley Shore and those what 
 wants the opportunity can take it." 
 
 " And I admire your spirit," bowed Jack 
 Potts, "and I m not sorry, after all, that 
 it s to be an open competition. And though 
 Mr. Chance may have means of securing 
 your jewels that are unknown to me, still I ll 
 wager even that I m the man that does it." 
 "I take you," said Tom, " and suggest 
 that Miss Roray hold the stakes, and buy 
 herself, in either event, a wedding-present 
 with them." 
 
 Miss Roray promptly declared that she 
 gave no promises, and there mightn t be any 
 wedding it was only a chance. But the 
 young men protested themselves satisfied 
 with these terms, and the money agreed on 
 was accordingly placed in her hands. In 
 the process of the transaction Tom emptied 
 his pockets, and his handkerchief, unnoticed 
 by him, fell to the floor and was picked up 
 by Mr. Potts. An eager smile flitted across 
 that gentleman s countenance as he examined 
 the initials on it. 
 
128 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Whose handkerchief is this ? " he asked, 
 in an indifferent tone. "Just picked it up 
 here." 
 
 Tom felt in his empty pocket. "Must 
 be mine, he said, reaching out his hand for 
 it. 
 
 "They ain t your initials," said Mr. 
 Potts, dryly. 
 
 Tom looked at them hastily. " So they 
 aren t," he said, confused. "Some other 
 fellow s lost it, after all." 
 
 " What are the initials ? " asked Jerroray, 
 noting the quiet smile on Jack Potts s face. 
 
 " T. N.," said that gentleman. " Do you 
 know any such ? 
 
 "T. N.! Why," she cried, "those are 
 Tom Nelson s initials ! " 
 
 "Holy Moses!" ejaculated Mr. Potts. 
 "You don t suppose he s anywheres on this 
 train, do you? Darin cuss if he is !" 
 
 The people immediately about them were 
 taken into confidence, and then the matter 
 was handed on to all the occupants of the 
 car, but no one was found possessing the 
 dangerous initials of "T. N." The fact 
 that the handkerchief was discovered close 
 by the seat occupied by Mr. Chance, of Ne 
 braska, was often mentioned by Mr. Potts, 
 
A QUIET LITTLE GAME 129 
 
 but quite carelessly, as if it had little signifi 
 cance. He also mentioned, with equal care 
 lessness, that Mr. Chance had lost his hand 
 kerchief, but of course this wasn t his. Tom, 
 furious at his own heedlessness, appeared 
 confused and absent, a demeanor which was 
 suspicious both in the eyes of his enemies, 
 and in those of the friendly Jerroray, who 
 tried to divert him while the search was in 
 progress with her observations on men and 
 life. She looked at him with a renewed in 
 terest in her eyes, and did not pay much at 
 tention to Jack Potts when that young man 
 returned from his search. 
 
 "This handkerchief goes a-beggin ," he 
 said, " which ain t strange, considerin that 
 the fellow who claims it lays himself open to 
 bein hanged." 
 
 "You re funny," said Tom Norrie, con 
 temptuously. " The idea of a train robber 
 having embroidered initials on his handker 
 chief, anyway. If Tom Nelson carries a 
 handkerchief at all it s most likely a red 
 bandanna. 
 
 " There are train robbers and train rob 
 bers," declared Jack Potts, sapiently. 
 
 And drummers and drummers, retorted 
 Tom, with a sharp look at him. 
 9 
 
130 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 Jack Potts met this home-thrust with so 
 quick a good-nature, and with so pleasant a 
 twinkle in his eyes, that in another moment 
 both young men laughed, and when Mr. 
 Potts held out his hand on the impulse of 
 the moment, Mr. Chance took it with no 
 lack of cordiality. 
 
 " There are plenty of people on this train, 
 however, who would be glad to view your 
 downfall, Mr. Chance," said the drummer, 
 " and for reasons that it does not take one 
 long to guess at" here he smiled at Miss 
 Roray. " I should advise you to be rather 
 circumspect as you walk the streets of Au 
 rora, and give or take no cause of quarrel. 
 Or if you don t like that advice, at least have 
 your firearms handy. 
 
 "He s comin up to see me," remarked 
 Jerroray, in a motherly manner. "He ll 
 be safe up there. I ain t anxious to quarrel 
 with him," and she bestowed upon Tom a 
 look of more than usual sweetness. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 BLUFF 
 
 Innocence, though so greatly admired by 
 the poets, and celebrated in many yards of 
 verse, is at times highly dangerous to its 
 possessor. Thus Tom Norrie, having a heart 
 free of guile, and fearing no man, was not 
 on the watch, and did not perceive more 
 than half of what occurred on the train from 
 Bud to Aurora. The curious fact that his 
 voice resembled that of the outlaw, and that 
 their methods of pronunciation were similar, 
 had not entered his head as a cause of sus 
 picion against him, for he had seen none of 
 the suggestive glances exchanged by the 
 drummer and Miss Roray apropos of this 
 subject. The handkerchief incident had 
 come near being unfortunate, and he cursed 
 his own carelessness in not making way with 
 such proof of his travelling under an as 
 sumed name. But, luckily, no one seemed 
 to connect the handkerchief and its fatal 
 
132 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 initials with him, and he had heard the 
 friendly Jack Potts state particularly to their 
 fellow-passengers, as he made his inquiries 
 of them, that it did not belong to Mr. 
 Chance. He had not seen the slight smile 
 on the drummer s face, nor the glance of 
 meaning which had in some instances ac 
 companied this statement, nor yet the re 
 turn glance of understanding which had lit 
 the faces of certain gentlemen who already 
 stood towards him in the attitude of enemies. 
 So he felt that by denying his property be 
 fore it was fastened on him irrevocably, he 
 had just managed to squeak out of a dis 
 agreeable contretemps, and he gave himself 
 no further uneasiness on the subject. The 
 attention which his party attracted as they 
 alighted from the train, the degree to which 
 they seemed to be the object of many eyes, 
 if not of all, in the station, while he se 
 cured the luggage and Jack Potts talked 
 to Jerroray, he ascribed entirely to that 
 young lady s superlative good looks. As 
 Mr. Neddy Bedloe had intimated in the 
 office of the Empire Hotel at Bud, she was 
 popular with her townsmen, and fame neces 
 sarily attached to those who formed her 
 suite. 
 
BLUFF 133 
 
 While Tom was awaiting his turn with the 
 baggage-man and reflecting thus agreeably 
 on the pleasure of paying court to a young 
 woman of the position and attractions of 
 his fair lady-friend, the lady-friend herself 
 was improving the opportunity to ask Mr. 
 Potts a few brief, but telling questions. 
 
 " Was that Chance s handkerchief? " 
 
 " It dropped out of his pocket." 
 
 " Did you actually see it drop out of his 
 pocket ? 
 
 "I actually did." 
 
 " Why did you look for its initials before 
 giving it back to him? " 
 
 11 Pure curiosity," and Jack Potts smiled 
 genially. 
 
 " You don t think it s possible that he 
 is" she stopped, interrupted by the look 
 of alarm on the drummer s face. 
 
 " My dear young lady, don t you suggest 
 such a thing," he said, quickly. " It s as 
 much as the man s life is worth ! Here are 
 all these Aurora gentlemen ready to cut his 
 throat for the favor you ve shown him. It 
 would take only those two words that you 
 just didn t say to cause them to produce the 
 sheriff and the whole police force and clap 
 Mr. Chance into jail on the mere suspicion. 
 
134 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 If you take any interest in that young man 
 you d better be pretty careful." 
 
 " I take an interest in Tom Nelson," de 
 clared Miss Roray. 
 
 " Happy man, if only he knew it," mur 
 mured Mr. Potts. "I shall never tell 
 him." 
 
 "Say," inquired Miss Roray, suddenly, 
 "what s the matter with your voice? It 
 changes. Most of the time it sounds sort of 
 hoarse, as if you had a cold or somethin . 
 But just then, when you said happy man, 
 and before, when you said my dear young 
 lady, it sounded as smooth as as " 
 
 "As a good cocktail," suggested Jack 
 Potts, with a smile. " It s emotion does it, 
 Miss Roray pure emotion. Love changes 
 a man from a roarin lion to a suckin dove 
 so why shouldn t it alter his voice from a 
 roar to a coo ? 
 
 Jerroray tossed her head consciously. 
 " Cuckoo I guess," she remarked. "And 
 a lot of love there is about it. 
 
 " Now let me tell you somethin ," said 
 Jack Potts, seriously. "Love is catchin . 
 When a man sees half a dozen other men 
 in love with the same girl it makes him think 
 she must be a pretty nice girl. And if he s 
 
BLUFF 135 
 
 the kind of man that likes to get what other 
 people want, and leave them whistlin , why 
 it s all the more so. Under such conditions, 
 love practically at first sight ain t a bit im 
 possible. I won t say more for various 
 reasons besides the fact that our friend Mr. 
 Chance is approachin us but in case we 
 shouldn t meet again right away I would like 
 to ask you not to forget me, even if you don t 
 see your diamonds so soon as you ve a right 
 to expect." The bold, handsome face of 
 Mr. Potts was softened to so genuine a ten 
 derness, and he spoke these last words so im 
 pressively, that Miss Roray was thrilled in 
 spite of herself as she met his eyes, and did 
 not resist him when he took her hand for a 
 moment, with a warmer pressure than the 
 length of their acquaintance might seem to 
 justify. The hand pressure gave her another 
 thrill, and thus there was a vivid color in 
 her cheeks, and she looked handsomer than 
 ever, as she turned to meet Mr. Chance, of 
 Nebraska, arriving with her bag in one hand 
 and his own in the other. Tom saw these 
 signs of the times, and laughed to think what 
 a flirt she was. It not only relieved him 
 from any sense of responsibility about the 
 vigorous flirtation he was himself carrying 
 
136 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 on with her, but lent indeed an added zest 
 to that encounter. 
 
 The Roray equipage, a dusty buggy drawn 
 by a sorrel pacing mare, was in waiting 
 without the station, in charge of what looked 
 to Tom like a middle-aged cowboy, who 
 might have seen better days that is, his cos 
 tume could hardly have been worse. He sat 
 in a degage attitude, with one foot on the 
 dashboard and the other dangling outside, 
 peacefully masticating the customary quid. 
 Jerroray said " Hullo, Ernest," to him, and 
 he replied "Hullo, Jerry," to her without 
 in the least deranging himself, or offering to 
 assist her in. The two young men were only 
 too ready to perform this service for her, 
 and when it was accomplished she refused 
 any further attendance. 
 
 " It s dinner-time, and you d only be in 
 the way, she explained, pleasantly. Ter 
 ence would think I was crazy if I turned up 
 with two strange gents in tow. I ll go 
 ahead and explain things to him and then 
 you can come along up in the afternoon. 
 Say, we ll have afternoon tea ! Dad brought 
 me the whole outfit last time he went to 
 Bloomer, and I ve never used it yet. Come 
 early and stay late," she called out as the 
 
BLUFF 137 
 
 man drove her off. Before they turned the 
 corner she had taken the reins in her own 
 hands and was conversing affably with her 
 stolid attendant. 
 
 "A most extraordinary young woman," 
 observed Tom to Jack Potts, quite as if that 
 gentleman shared his own point of view in 
 regard to the peculiarities of the West. He 
 perceived this incongruity himself before 
 Mr. Potts had time to reply, and turned and 
 looked at him quickly, wondering what he 
 would say. 
 
 Jack Potts was smiling, as in fact he had 
 been doing most of the time since he met 
 him, thought Tom. " I suppose they don t 
 grow like that in Nebraska? " he inquired. 
 
 " We have them of all kinds in Nebraska," 
 returned Tom with as much nonchalance as 
 he could muster, but Jerroray strikes me as 
 an original, viewed in the light of any civ 
 ilization even Nebraskan. At all events, 
 she s the best -looking girl I ve come across, 
 and her manners strike me as equally unique 
 and pleasing." 
 
 " I m a good deal taken with her myself," 
 observed the drummer. " But it looks as if 
 Tom Nelson had got the refusal of that par 
 ticular peach." 
 
138 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Not if some other gentleman matches 
 Mr. Nelson s valor it s what he does she 
 likes not himself." 
 
 " Now, look here, Chance, do yon really 
 think you or any other feller could get those 
 diamonds away from Nelson ? inquired 
 Jack Potts. 
 
 " I don t know," replied Tom, with can 
 dor, "but it wouldn t be bad fun to try, 
 for if there s a man I should like to meet it s 
 that one." 
 
 " Well, now, why, I d like to know ? " 
 
 "Because he strikes me as uncommonly 
 clever and uncommonly interesting a man, 
 as one might say, out of ten thousand." 
 
 " And you ain t afraid of him ? " queried 
 Jack Potts, with his customary quizzical smile. 
 
 "No," said Tom. "I ain t, although 
 you seem to think that s mere talk. But 
 my idea of Tom Nelson is that he s a good 
 fellow. It seems odd, perhaps, to regard a 
 highway robber in that light, but all that I 
 hear of him confirms me in it. In short, I 
 can t help feeling that to me just at present 
 a week with Tom Nelson would be worth a 
 cycle of Cathay." 
 
 A Nebraskan who quotes Tennyson, 
 observed Mr. Potts, derisively. 
 
BLUFF 139 
 
 " And a Chicago drummer who recog 
 nizes it," retorted Tom Norrie. 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Potts, "though I ve 
 fallen somewhat from my high estate, I don t 
 mind admitting that I was once at Harvard 
 College." 
 
 " So was I," admitted Tom, with a grin. 
 
 All the way from Nebraska ? 
 
 " All the way from Nebraska," said Tom, 
 unblushingly. " What was your class ? " 
 
 " We shall have to defer our college rem 
 iniscences, I fear," said Mr. Potts, with a 
 smile, " for here we are at the Palace Hotel. 
 But your being a Harvard man was no news 
 to me," he added, as they walked into the 
 hotel office and bar-room. 
 
 What do you mean ? How did you 
 know it ? " inquired Tom, with quick curi 
 osity. 
 
 But Jack Potts was already engaged in 
 conversation with the hotel clerk and pro 
 prietor in one, who seemed, like Mr. Dicker, 
 to be an old friend of his, and Tom received 
 no answer to his question. After a few mo 
 ments he introduced Tom to this gentle 
 man, whom Tom had been regarding with 
 interest as representing Mr. Dicker s idea of 
 a chump. He was a short, stout young man, 
 
140 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 with a large, round, clean-looking face which 
 was embellished with two very red lips, 
 two very pink cheeks, a small curling blond 
 mustache and a dimpled chin. This bright- 
 colored countenance was saved from mere 
 pink-and-white effeminacy by a pair of 
 small but unusually sharp blue eyes, which 
 had the appearance of taking in everything 
 at a glance. Thus while Tom was taking 
 him in and regarding the careless grace of 
 the undeniably neglige costume which had 
 called forth the scorn of the elegant Mr. 
 Dicker, he too was not idle, and Tom im 
 agined that he could have given a complete 
 inventory of his own attire and visible be 
 longings after the two or three good-humored 
 but keen glances that he had flashed toward 
 our hero. His name was Keach J. Cutler 
 Keach and he appeared to possess those 
 qualities of popularity which were wanting 
 in the self-centred Mr. Dicker. He assigned 
 rooms to Mr. Chance and Mr. Potts and 
 went himself to show them the way, but 
 with true appreciation of his own dignity 
 allowed Tom to carry his grip unchallenged 
 Mr. Potts being burdened only with a 
 light bag slung over his shoulder. They 
 were met in the hall by a fifteen -year-old 
 
BLUFF 141 
 
 fac-simile of Mr. Keach, who began ringing 
 an enormous gong, much to the distress of 
 their ears. Tom laughed at the ludicrous 
 resemblance of the two, and though he 
 formed the tail of the procession this mirth 
 did not escape the eagle eye of his host. 
 
 "Younger brother," he observed, laconi 
 cally on the stairs, in a glad interval of the 
 gong-ringing. 
 
 " T. Corson Keach," supplemented Jack 
 Potts for Tom s further information. 
 
 Tom gazed with delight upon the spotless- 
 ness of his small apartment and of every 
 thing in it, then opened the tough-looking 
 extension bag for which he had traded his 
 own neat Gladstone in Kansas City, and 
 secured for himself a fresh handkerchief to 
 replace the one now in the possession of Mr. 
 Potts. Before he put it in his pocket, how 
 ever, he cut off, with a diagonal slash of his 
 penknife, the whole corner where the tell 
 tale initials were embroidered, rolled this rag 
 up, tossed it out of the window into the 
 gutter, and rejoined his friend, whom he 
 heard whistling in the corridor without. 
 
 On entering the dining-room shortly after 
 wards, Tom laughed aloud at the sight of 
 the waiter girls who were nimbly ministering 
 
142 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 to the needs of some thirty men or so and 
 half a dozen women, all eating for dear life. 
 They were very stout, but very agile, and 
 they looked exactly like each other, and ex 
 actly like J. Cutler and T. Corson Keach. 
 
 Jack Potts smiled. " M. Jane Keach and 
 S. Maria Keach," he explained, in an under 
 tone, after they had sat down. "A. Ma 
 tilda Keach does the cookin , G. Washing 
 ton Keach, aged ten or so, runs errands, 
 and A. Lincoln Keach is boss in the liv 
 ery stable. They re one of the features 
 of Aurora, and even the inhabitants can t 
 hardly tell em apart. They keep the clean 
 est hotel I ever struck in one of these half- 
 baked little Western cities, and that s very 
 much to their credit. J. Cutler is a first- 
 rate feller, but, like many otherwise sensi 
 ble men, he has one fatal fad he thinks 
 he s gifted as a detective. Thus he regards 
 all guests in the house in the light of possi 
 ble fugitives from crime, which at times is 
 a little embarrassin to the guests. He ll 
 prob ly ask you questions in an artfully art 
 less manner peculiar to himself, but I don t 
 feel afraid he ll get much out of you." 
 
 The etiquette of the dinner-table at the 
 Palace Hotel of Aurora seemed to be to eat 
 
BLUFF 143 
 
 as much as you can in the least possible 
 time, say nothing during the process, and 
 then get out the instant you have taken your 
 last mouthful, but before you have finished 
 its mastication ; that is, if you masticate at 
 all, as many prefer not to do. The men 
 finished and bolted one by one, almost with 
 out a word though not without toothpicks. 
 It seemed impossible to break so preternat 
 ural a hush, upon which one s remarks must 
 needs be painfully audible to the entire as 
 semblage, so Tom held his peace, took what 
 was set before him, and contented himself 
 with observing the society in which he found 
 himself. Miners and ranchmen were the 
 chief ingredients, with a sprinkling of more 
 or less dapper gentlemen, who, according to 
 Tom s experience, might be real estate and 
 insurance men, grocery clerks, and druggists, 
 or even lawyers and doctors. Some had 
 their " ladies " with them faded looking 
 women with painted cheeks and there were 
 a few unwholesome infants, whose table 
 manners were even more atrocious than those 
 of his small cousins, thought Tom. He had 
 seen of late many such dismal hotel dining- 
 rooms, and found nothing new in this one, 
 except the fat-faced waiting maids, whose 
 
144 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 active movements and glib speech he fol 
 lowed with fascinated eyes and ears. Jack 
 Potts was evidently a favorite with them, 
 and they bestowed upon him many nods and 
 becks and wreathed smiles as they passed 
 and repassed, waiting on him and his neigh 
 bors. This by no means surprised Tom, for 
 he found the drummer remarkably attractive 
 himself, and had noted, too, the immediate 
 effect which he produced on the blooming 
 Jerroray. There was a coolness about him, 
 a dash and a go, which, joined to his good 
 looks and vigor, made one think that he must 
 be interesting. Tom wondered how much of 
 his attractiveness lay in surface charms, and 
 how much of it in the man s real essence. 
 
 " A drummer and, above all, a drum 
 mer in the jewelry trade," he said to him 
 self " is hardly what we are apt to think of 
 as a large man, or even an interesting one, 
 yet he gives me the idea of force, and I find 
 myself instinctively wishing all the time to 
 know more about him. Now there couldn t 
 be much more to know about a jewelry 
 drummer. And besides, he s been at Har 
 vard, and I don t beliere men are generally 
 fitted for the jewelry trade by courses at 
 Harvard College." 
 
BLUFF 145 
 
 The room was now nearly empty, and 
 they were consuming their pie of which 
 they had had a magnificent choice of about 
 a dozen sorts when just at this point of 
 Tom s thoughts Jack Potts turned to him 
 with his usual smiling expression. 
 
 " I wonder if you happen to be wantin 
 anything in the jewelry line ? " he inquired. 
 "I d be glad to show you my samples," 
 and he tapped lightly the bag slung at his 
 side. 
 
 Tom gazed at him very seriously. " How 
 long have you been in the jewelry trade ? 
 he asked. 
 
 " That s rather a leadin question," 
 laughed Mr. Potts, " but I don t know as 
 I mind tellin you that I ve been there 
 well quite as long, I ll wager, as you ve 
 lived in Nebraska." 
 
 Tom could not avoid smiling at this unex 
 pected rejoinder. " You don t at all give 
 one the impression of a man who has spent 
 his life in trade," he retorted. " Evidently 
 you re not naturally a business man, or, after 
 so long an apprenticeship, you wouldn t still 
 be a drummer." 
 
 " I m really head of the firm," said Jack 
 Potts, assuming a confidential tone, " but 
 10 
 
146 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 I go out on the road occasionally as a sort 
 of a vacation from the cares of business. 
 Drummin s first rate fun, in my opinion." 
 
 " Mr. Moses, then, I suppose? or possibly 
 Finkstein ? 
 
 Jack Potts, rising to leave the dining-room, 
 answered this question only with a smile at 
 first, but as they passed through the hall on 
 the way to the bar-room he remarked, bland 
 ly : " I d no more think of travellin under 
 an alias than you would." 
 
 A loud roar of conversation came through 
 the closed door of the bar-room, but it ceased 
 instantly when the door opened and Mr. 
 Potts and Mr. Chance entered that sanctum 
 of conviviality. Every eye was turned upon 
 them, except the left orb of a cross-eyed 
 ranchman who stood within five feet, and 
 Tom observed that he shifted his organs of 
 vision about once in thirty seconds, as if to 
 give each eye a chance. This performance 
 had much the air of turning search-lights off 
 and on, and our hero s risibilities were so 
 actively excited thereby that he could hardly 
 help laughing in the gentleman s face. But 
 he began to feel curiously that he was him 
 self the object of prominence, that the eyes 
 were fixed rather on him than on Jack Potts, 
 
BLUFF 147 
 
 and that it would be well to be discreet in 
 his behavior. He recalled the drummer s 
 advice on the train, and wondered, in a some 
 what puzzled way, if paying attentions to 
 Jerroray was really going to be so serious as 
 all that. Then, beside the bar, he caught 
 sight of Charley Shore s discontented, pretty- 
 face, close up to the round visage of Mr. J. 
 Cutler Keach, and perceived, from the direc 
 tion of their eyes, that they were discussing 
 him. He felt that he must act at once, with 
 resolution and promptness, and without be 
 traying that he realized himself to be the ob 
 ject of enmity. 
 
 " Would there be any harm in setting up 
 drinks all around ? " he asked of Mr. Potts, 
 in an undertone. 
 
 " No, indeed. Great idea," answered 
 that gentleman. 
 
 So Tom, with composure, made a little 
 speech of those few well-chosen words that 
 are always used by amateur orators. He said 
 in substance that he had been but a short 
 time in Aurora, but that he was greatly 
 taken with the town and its attractions, in 
 cluding the hotel, which was a tidy credit 
 to the family of Keach, etc., etc., and that, 
 in short, he should like to invite all the 
 
 \ 
 
148 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 gentlemen present to join with him in 
 drinking the health of their charming little 
 city. 
 
 This was immediately done with a great 
 good will, and Tom felt afterwards that 
 though they still looked at him as if he were 
 an escaped curiosity, there was certainly a 
 benevolence in their scrutiny that had not 
 been there before. The frown on Mr. Shore s 
 countenance convinced him further that he 
 had done wisely and well. He started to 
 take out his handkerchief at this point, for 
 getting in his complaisance that he had re 
 solved to use it only in discreet privacy, 
 but a touch on his elbow stopped him half 
 way. 
 
 "I should think you d had enough diffi 
 culty with handkerchiefs for one day, said 
 Jack Potts in an undertone, and then laughed 
 as if he had been telling a good story. Tom 
 look bewildered. " Laugh you d n fool," 
 said Jack Potts, forcibly. And wipe your 
 mouth on your sleeve like your betters." 
 Tom laughed then as if the joke were a 
 capital one, and Mr. Potts joined with him 
 in an innocent and hearty manner that 
 caused Tom to envy him his powers of dis 
 simulation. Jack Potts whispered one more 
 
BLUFF 149 
 
 word in his ear as if it were an addendum to 
 the joke. " Get out of this as soon as you 
 can. It ain t the safest place in the world 
 just at present. And don t loaf round town 
 much." Whereupon they both laughed 
 again. 
 
 Then Jack Potts moved up to Mr. Shore 
 and Mr. Keach, and began talking to them 
 in the same undertone, as if he were telling 
 them the same joke. 
 
 " By George ! " exclaimed Charley Shore, 
 <( that s a good one." 
 
 Tom observed that Mr. Keach still had his 
 eye on him, however, and bought a few 
 cigars as he paid his score, hoping to propi 
 tiate him thereby and then get away. 
 
 " Terrible train robberies," observed Mr. 
 Keach, carelessly. 
 
 " Yes, awful," answered Tom. 
 
 Guess there ll be no more, though," 
 this with a watchful glance. 
 
 "Why so?" 
 
 " Got our eye on the thief." 
 
 " You ve not caught him, have you? " 
 
 "No, but we will." 
 
 " That s interesting. I d like to be pres 
 ent." 
 
 " Could be managed easily." 
 
150 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Well, let me know beforehand. I shall 
 be round here a few days. I m rather inter 
 ested in the man." 
 
 "Smart old cuss," said J. Cutler Keach, 
 as if he were thinking of something else. 
 
 " Old? " said Tom, in surprise. 
 
 "Sixty, if he s a day," rejoined Mr. 
 Keach. 
 
 " Are you sure of it ? " 
 
 " Sure as we want to be." 
 
 "Well, I hope you ll catch him then," 
 said Tom, with a laugh. "An old villain 
 always seems so much worse than a young 
 one." This was a new and interesting 
 view of Mr. Nelson, and he was anxious 
 to discuss the matter further with J. Cutler 
 Keach, but remembering Jack Potts s warn 
 ing he took out his watch. "I ll have to 
 go out now on my business," he observed, 
 "but I ll be back again by and by, and 
 should be glad to continue this conversation. 
 Young or old, Mr. Nelson is certainly an 
 interesting gentleman, if one may judge by 
 the number of different opinions about him, 
 and I should like to hear yours, as I under 
 stand you re clever at detective work." 
 
 "Who me? Reckon somebody s been 
 stuffin you," said Mr. Keach this modest 
 
BLUFF 151 
 
 disclaimer accompanied by a pleased smile. 
 "But you re welcome to my opinion if 
 you ll give me yours." 
 
 "It s a bargain," said Tom. He lighted 
 one of his cigars, looked about the room 
 where the company in little knots was now 
 engaged in low conversation, observed that 
 Jack Potts was still holding Mr. Shore with 
 his glittering tongue, and then proceeded to 
 get himself out by the street door with as 
 much coolness and nonchalance as he could 
 summon. As he walked across the room the 
 same complete silence as before fell upon it. 
 Every one was looking at him, but he pre 
 tended not to notice. J. Cutler Keach 
 whispered a word in the ear of one of the 
 later editions of his name, who deftly 
 wound his way through the crowd in our 
 hero s wake. Tom passed through the 
 screen doors, which flapped together behind 
 him, and down the steps into the street. 
 Instantly he heard in the room he had left 
 an uproar of excited talk, which stirred his 
 blood and made his heart beat. What did 
 it mean ? What was going to happen ? 
 Was he about to be lynched for his atten 
 tions to the belle of Aurora ? Or did they 
 connect him in some curious way with the 
 
152 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 outlaw, Tom Nelson ? No, that was too 
 crazy and impossible it must be merely 
 that they were all devoted to Jerroray and 
 incensed that he should seem to cut them 
 out. 
 
 11 Well, they shan t scare me off," he said 
 to himself, with grim determination on his 
 face. He purchased in the first shop he 
 came to half a dozen high-colored handker 
 chiefs that seemed to him more suited to the 
 climate than his own; and then secured a 
 man to drive him to the residence of the 
 Sheriff which proved to be a showy man 
 sion on a slight eminence, three-quarters of 
 a mile from the centre of the town. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 A CHOICE OF THREE 
 
 "He s the man," declared J. Cutler 
 Keach with conviction the instant Tom had 
 disappeared, and on this statement being 
 questioned vociferously, he narrated with 
 considerable embellishment the conversation 
 which had just taken place between him and 
 the bogus Mr. Chance. "He s a plucky 
 gent to come here and defy us in our midst, 
 but he ain t overburdened with intellect or 
 he d have been sharp enough not to let on 
 how surprised he was when I said Tom 
 Nelson was old. Hope you ll catch him, 
 then, said he, smilin away to himself. 
 An I ll come back to-night and talk it 
 over with you. Thinks he ll throw sand 
 in my eyes, does he? Guess I ain t waitin 
 till he comes back to-night ! 
 
 " Where s the initials you found ? " asked 
 Jack Potts. 
 
 Mr. Keach proudly displayed the dusty, 
 three-cornered rag of Tom s handkerchief. 
 
154 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " How do you know that s his ? Did you 
 see him drop it ? " 
 
 " George Washington was comin home 
 from school an seen it thrown out the win 
 dow of No. 13, and run and picked it up." 
 
 " With true Keach curiosity," put in 
 Jack Potts, smilingly. 
 
 " We Keaches is born with the idea that 
 things don t happen without reason," said 
 J. Cutler, with genial pride. " So George 
 Washington brings it to me and asks me if 
 I know any T. N. which I don t, but I d 
 like to, says I to G. W. An then I re 
 member what you remarked about Mr. 
 Chance, an then in a minute in comes 
 Charley Shore an tells me all he knows." 
 
 "Which don t take long," said a voice 
 from the crowd. 
 
 " An then some other gentlemen with 
 ideas on the subject, an we puts two an 
 two together " 
 
 "And find you have eight or ten," 
 laughed Mr. Potts. 
 
 " Well, what we ve got is enough to arrest 
 him on, anyhow," returned J. Cutler Keach. 
 
 " An he ll be languishin in jail in about 
 one hour," stated Mr. Charley Shore, tri 
 umphantly. 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 155 
 
 Jack Potts started. " Have you got out 
 a warrant ? " he asked, quickly. 
 
 "No," answered Mr. Shore; "but that 
 don t take long. An the Terror s right 
 handy at the Court House to-day. I just 
 seen him comin back from dinner." 
 
 At this moment the youthful Keach re 
 turned, breathless. " Bought himself 
 some pocky hankershers at Joe Pye s 
 notion store," he declared, in jerks, while 
 the crowd exchanged glances of excited 
 conviction, "then then got the Blub 
 ber to drive him up to the Terror s 
 house ! 
 
 Everybody looked very much surprised 
 and half incredulous at this statement, ex 
 cept Charley Shore and the perennially smil 
 ing Mr. Potts. 
 
 " Great Scott, he s got the nerve ! " 
 
 " Don t mind puttin his head in the 
 lion s mouth ! " 
 
 " Now, you know a man can t help ad- 
 mirin such a cool cuss as that " 
 
 Charley Shore sniffed impatiently at these 
 comments. "He s after the girl that 
 don t take no nerve an the Sheriff s a mile 
 away down town here." 
 
 Do you mean Miss Jerroray ? " in- 
 
156 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 quired Mr. Keach. " Never heard you re 
 fer to her as the girl before. 
 
 " The gurrl give him the mitten since 
 Tom Nelson held him up last night that s 
 why. An Charley ain t over fond of either 
 her or Tom Nelson to-day. This was Mr. 
 Neddy Bedloe s contribution to the discus 
 sion, and as it produced an immediate effect, 
 he proceeded to take advantage of the pleas 
 ing prominence it brought him into by nar 
 rating briefly the occurrences of the night 
 before at Bud s great ball, while the crowd 
 listened eagerly. 
 
 " Well, he s got good taste in gals," com 
 mented one man. 
 
 " They ain t many fellers as would be a 
 match for Jerroray but I reckon Tom Nel 
 son would," said another. 
 
 " Seems a pity to disturb their taty-tate," 
 observed a third. " I vote we gives em a 
 couple hours or so for spoonin , fore we go 
 up after him." 
 
 These remarks incensed Mr. Shore beyond 
 endurance. " You think it s nice for the 
 Honorable Terence Roray s daughter to be 
 spoonin with a train-robber a common 
 thief, do you ? You think that would be a 
 nice match to encourage? All of you re 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 157 
 
 afraid of him; though there are thirty of 
 you, you don t dare go up an face him all 
 by himself! " 
 
 " Nor yet all by Jerroray," put in Mr. 
 Potts, with a sympathetic gravity that 
 brought down the house. 
 
 " Say, Charley, if you ve got all that agin 
 him why don t you call him out ? " queried 
 a good - looking young fellow in full new 
 cowboy rig. 
 
 " Seems to me you d orter settle the pri 
 vate quarrel before the law puts its finger in 
 the pie you won t get no chance after 
 wards," said an older man. 
 
 " Mr. Shore ain t over handy with his 
 revolver, an he ain t goin to take no risks 
 if he can get other folks to take em for 
 him," remarked one of the dapper and clerk- 
 like boarders with a facetious wink to every 
 body within range of his eye. 
 
 " You shut up, Andy Slade, or you ll 
 take bigger risks than you ll like," said 
 Mr. Shore, angrily. 
 
 The crowd immediately cleared around 
 them, while Messrs. Shore and Slade looked 
 daggers and six-shooters and Winchester 
 rifles at each other ; but whether either of 
 them would have proceeded from these kill- 
 
158 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 ing looks to murderous actions will never be 
 known, for Mr. J. Cutler Keach, weary of 
 so much talk, burst in at this point with for 
 cible recommendations to the crowd at large 
 that they should sink private animosities for 
 the public good and proceed to business. 
 He stated the case of the State against Tom 
 Nelson with eloquent brevity, reminded them 
 that Mr. Nelson was now within their reach, 
 but was not likely to be so long, that it 
 would redound eternally to their credit if 
 they caught him, and eternally to their dis 
 credit if they lost him, and that here was 
 Aurora s great chance to show that she 
 needed neither Pinkertons norByrneses from 
 outside, as had been insultingly suggested 
 by rival cities not five hundred miles away, v 
 but that she was amply able to work out her 
 own salvation from within, with her own 
 superior resources of intellect and detective 
 ability. Mr. Keach wound up with the 
 practical suggestion that they should repair 
 at once to No. 13, the chamber assigned Mr. 
 Chance, of Nebraska, and explore the pos 
 sessions of that very suspicious character, 
 with an eye to the discovery of more T. N. s. 
 The crowd, with the strange human and 
 sheeplike instinct to follow anyone who has 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 159 
 
 force enough to want to lead, was strongly 
 swayed by the vigor of Mr. Reach s mind, 
 and for the moment his wishes were its own. 
 In .thirty seconds they would have had in 
 their hands all the incriminating T. N. s of 
 Tom Norrie s neatly marked linen, and 
 would have been hot on his trail, but just 
 here Mr. Potts interposed with the sugges 
 tion that they should pause and reflect. To 
 break into Mr. Chance s room and investi 
 gate his belongings without authority, which, 
 in case they were mistaken, would put them 
 in a humiliating and ridiculous position, and 
 perhaps even a dangerous one, if Mr. Chance 
 himself should turn up inopportunely, was 
 possibly not the best way of securing their 
 ends. A warrant for his arrest would be a 
 safer means at least, was easily secured if 
 there was any one willing to swear it out, 
 and would enable them to investigate Mr. 
 Chance and his property at their leisure and 
 under the protection of the law. 
 
 Even with his manner of cool indifference, 
 his ironical, half-humorous way of speaking, 
 there was apparently as much power to move 
 men in Jack Potts as in the estimable Mr. 
 Cutler Keach. The drummer, while ap 
 pearing to side entirely with Mr. Keach in 
 
160 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 his condemnation of Tom Nelson s awful 
 crimes, and his desire to bring the villain to 
 justice, somehow brought out almost imme 
 diately in the crowd the sentiment of sym 
 pathy with the outlaw and of admiration for 
 his bold deeds which to Tom Norrie had 
 been so striking a thing in the talk he heard 
 of him at the Empire Hotel at Bud. The 
 men were by no means sure, after all, that 
 they wouldn t like to see so smart a cuss as 
 
 he, and one so d d plucky, get away 
 
 with flying colors and leave justice to 
 whistle. Mr. Keach was in despair, and so, 
 to all outward seeming, was Mr. Potts, who 
 stood by Mr. Keach as his most sympathetic 
 ally, yet all the time by little artful remarks 
 and insinuations of the greatest apparent 
 simplicity fanned that temper in the crowd 
 which he represented himself as most desir 
 ous to allay. 
 
 The drummer also encouraged a wordy al 
 tercation that arose as to who should swear 
 out the warrant. Everybody except Mr. 
 Shore thought Mr. Shore the man to do it, 
 but he insisted that it should be Mr. Keach. 
 Mr. Keach said he d just as lief do it, but 
 he wasn t goin to be bossed by nobody, and 
 he hadn t been to Bud, and Charley Shore 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 161 
 
 had, and it was much more propriate that 
 Charley Shore should do it, and if he wasn t 
 willin to he d just better give the whole 
 thing up. 
 
 Mr. Shore finally accepted this view of 
 the situation, but he needed even then so 
 much bolstering before he could be brought 
 to the point of action, that it was more than 
 an hour before the first practical steps were 
 taken, and a full hour and a half before the 
 necessary warrant was sworn out for the ar 
 rest of Tom Nelson, train robber, travelling 
 under the alias of J. Chance, of Nebraska. 
 
 And long before this denouement was 
 reached Jack Potts had withdrawn himself 
 reluctantly from the counsels of Mr. Keach, 
 on the plea of the absolute necessity that 
 he should finish up his business at Aurora 
 and reach Bloomer that night. He walked 
 rapidly down the main street of the town, 
 and went into a corner sample-room, three 
 blocks from the hotel. He left this estab 
 lishment two minutes later, by the side-door, 
 and turned soon from the side street in 
 which he found himself into a narrow, strag 
 gling alley. In a moment he was out of 
 sight of the street he had just left, and alone 
 also in the alley, He started into a rapid 
 ii 
 
1 62 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 fox-trot, keeping a constant lookout behind 
 him as he ran ; but no one appeared, and 
 he soon arrived at a door on which he gave 
 three quick knocks, followed in an instant 
 by another three. The door was at once 
 unbolted, and he was inside what appeared 
 to be the joint residence of a man and a 
 horse, both of whom showed great delight 
 at the sight of him. 
 
 " Saddle Folly as quick as you can," said 
 Jack Potts, and as the man flew about his 
 task he himself put on the bridle, kissing the 
 mare s soft nose as he did so. " Have you 
 had her out to-day ? " he asked. 
 
 " No, sorr. She come in last night so wet 
 that I thinks to meself she won t need more n 
 three miles the day, an I ll give her that at 
 evenin , I will, when there ain t no one a- 
 lookin ." 
 
 "That s all right, Mick. She ll get a 
 good pull now, the beauty," and Jack Potts 
 vaulted into his saddle from the ground, like 
 a boy full of surplus energy. 
 
 "She ll be good fer it, too," said the 
 Irishman, opening the door to let them pass 
 out. "She warn t no more blowed last 
 night than if she d been out for just a can 
 ter." 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 163 
 
 Horse and rider sped away on an easy lope 
 out of the town, and then skirted it in a 
 rapid circuit, which brought them soon into 
 the rear of Mr. Terence Roray s big white 
 residence, sitting on its little hill. Ernest 
 came out the back door as they rode up, and 
 Jack Potts looked at him sharply before dis 
 mounting. 
 
 " I ve got five gold eagles in my pocket for 
 you if you can keep your mouth shut, he 
 said, almost sternly. " And there s no time 
 to lose. Will you do it ? " 
 
 " Reckon I will," said Ernest, meeting 
 the look squarely. 
 
 "You 11 do," said Potts briefly, satisfied 
 with his scrutiny. " Keep the women folks 
 quiet, too, and let the other feller that ll 
 come out here in one minute or less take this 
 mare and go where he d n pleases. The 
 sheriff s down town, isn t he ? " 
 
 "Yes," replied the laconic Ernest. 
 
 Jack Potts entered the back door as famil 
 iarly as if he had been there before, but the 
 big, good-natured looking Irish woman in 
 the kitchen gave a faint scream and threw 
 up her hands at her first look at him. 
 
 " Great luck ! " cried Jack Potts. " It s 
 Micky s wife ! You can do me a fine turn, 
 
1 64 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 Biddy, and put money in your pocket and 
 Mick s. There s a young man in with Miss 
 Roray that has got to get out of town 
 mighty quick or he ll be arrested in about 
 five minutes and get into the lockup. I 
 want to see him this instant, and I ll give 
 you your directions later, but if the crowd 
 should turn up before I expect, just remem 
 ber one thing, the black mare ain t mine, 
 she s Mr. Chance s, and he got away on her 
 before I could nab him. Do you catch on ? " 
 
 Biddy looked perfect intelligence. " Yis, 
 
 I catches on, Mr. ," and she hesitated, 
 
 with a twinkle in her eyes. 
 
 " Potts," supplied the drummer. " Jack 
 Potts. Now for Miss Roray." 
 
 Biddy led him at once to the parlor. 
 " Here s a gintleman wants to see you sure, 
 Jerry," she explained, as she stood wiping 
 her hands on her apron, in the door of the 
 gilded and frescoed apartment, gorgeous 
 with shaded plush furniture of four different 
 colors. 
 
 Jerroray rose, startled, from her tea-ta 
 ble, which was of uncommon size, and set as 
 if for a meal, with coarse plates and knives 
 and forks in high contrast to the dainty tea 
 cups from Bloomer. The idea of a tea-gown 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 165 
 
 in the mind of Aurora s belle seemed to be 
 a mixture of a ball dress and a Mother Hub- 
 bard wrapper, for she was at once decolletee 
 and minus a waist line. But the bizarre 
 costume was brilliantly becoming, and her 
 complexion was unimpaired by the garish 
 daylight. Both she and Mr. Chance looked 
 flushed and happy, and it required no dis 
 cernment to scent flirtation in the very air. 
 
 A pained expression came on the face of 
 Mr. Potts, but he bore up heroically and pro 
 ceeded at once to business, wasting no time 
 on preliminaries. With a mere statement of 
 the situation he urged Mr. Chance to fly im 
 mediately. " You re not safe in this town 
 an instant. They ve raided your room, and 
 are as sure you re Tom Nelson as as I m 
 sure you re not! Take the horse waitin at 
 the back-door, ride down the hill and straight 
 toward the sun for three miles as near as 
 you can judge. Then give the mare her 
 head, let her take her own gait it s a fast 
 one and she ll bring you to a safe place 
 before night. The people 11 take care of you 
 and no questions asked, and you re to stay 
 quiet till you hear from me. I ll give you a 
 good long start, and then if Miss Roray will 
 lend me one of her father s horses " 
 
1 66 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " I ll lend you my own horse/ said Jer- 
 roray, with pride. 
 
 "I ll make a feint of chasin you, just to 
 put the people off the track. It would be as 
 much as my head s worth if they knew I d 
 helped you off." 
 
 "By George, Potts, you re a good fel 
 low," said Tom, warmly, seizing his hand. 
 " You ve saved my life." 
 
 " No Folly 11 do that. She ain t a horse 
 I m in the habit of lendin even to my best 
 friends, but she s the only person that can 
 get you out of this scrape. Now, away with 
 you. Miss Roray can see you off if she likes, 
 but I ll stay here so s not to give the man 
 outside there any more lies to tell than are 
 absolutely necessary. Put all your trust in 
 Folly she ll beat wisdom out of his boots 
 any day in the week." 
 
 Tom stayed for no more, but with a warm 
 pressure of Miss Roray s hand at the kitchen 
 door, and one look into her fine eyes, re 
 sponsive now with the excitement, he leaped 
 to the saddle and was off down the hill and 
 straight into the west on a freed hand- 
 gallop. 
 
 Jerroray stood on the back steps shading 
 her eyes with her hand, her face flushed and 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 167 
 
 her lips parted, while Ernest leaned against 
 the house, both staring after the rapidly 
 diminishing horse and rider. 
 
 "My, but ain t that a pretty horse!" 
 said the young lady. 
 
 < < I never see a neater, and not a spot on 
 her nowheres, declared Ernest. < You bet 
 your little life she can go some." 
 
 Here Biddy touched the rapt Jerroray on 
 her shoulder. The gintleman inside would 
 like to spake to ye, Jerry," she said, with a 
 broad Irish grin on her good Irish face. 
 
 Mr. Potts had come out into the kitchen 
 to view the departure, and now communi 
 cated to Miss Roray his wishes as to what 
 story should be told by herself, Ernest, and 
 Biddy. "Biddy here s all right," he said, 
 while the increased breadth of Biddy s grin 
 corroborated him, " and I fixed the man 
 with a sum of money, but if he understands 
 he s servin your interests as well " 
 
 "Exactly," said Jerroray. "I see, an 
 he ll do it, too." She started promptly to 
 go out the door again. 
 
 "Wait," said Mr. Potts, taking out his 
 watch. " I ll follow our friend in about ten 
 minutes if Ernest will have the horse ready, 
 and meanwhile he d better keep a sharp 
 
1 68 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 lookout towards the town and let us know 
 the moment he sees any one comin ." 
 
 It did not take Miss Roray long to com 
 municate the drummer s wishes, strongly 
 emphasized by her own, to the slouchy Er 
 nest, and she reappeared in the kitchen with 
 a rapidity which indicated that ten minutes 
 was none too long for all she had to say to 
 Mr. Potts. 
 
 " Come on into the parlor," she said, 
 leading the way. " I was forgettin you d 
 got to be off after him so quick. I ll give 
 you some afternoon tea. 
 
 " Suppose I prefer morning tea tea of 
 the dawn Aurora tea ? " he inquired, as 
 she poured out a mixture suspiciously dark- 
 colored. 
 
 " Say, we ain t got time to joke. I want 
 you to explain." 
 
 " Explain what? " 
 
 " Everything. He is Tom Nelson, ain t 
 he?" 
 
 " There s no proof, but your friend Mr. 
 Shore and Mr. J. Cutler Keach are sure of 
 it." 
 
 " Is Charley Shore at the bottom of this ? " 
 inquired the young lady with flashing eyes. 
 
 " Mr. Shore is certainly very much inter- 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 169 
 
 ested in securing Mr. Chance s arrest," said 
 the drummer. 
 
 " I ll pay him back well," declared Jerro- 
 ray, with a most vicious and revengeful ex 
 pression. "What business has he got, I d 
 
 like to know, to interfere with with " 
 
 she stopped self-consciously. 
 
 " With your love affairs ? " suggested Jack 
 Potts. "Is it a love affair so soon ? " he 
 asked, with a touch of real earnestness in 
 his voice, as he leaned forward in his chair 
 to get a better view of her face. 
 
 " No," she replied, with prompt but some 
 how unconvincing disclaimer ; then added, 
 in a moment, " but I told you I was in love 
 with Tom Nelson." 
 
 Mr. Potts set down his cup of tea with a 
 grave face. " I ve half a mind to tell you 
 somethin ," he said, thoughtfully. "They 
 say women can t keep secrets, but you strike 
 me as a woman that could if she wanted 
 to." 
 
 "You needn t tell me any secrets if you re 
 afraid I ll give em away," said Jerroray, 
 proudly, "but I never went back on any 
 body yet." 
 
 " I can well believe that," said Jack Potts. 
 1 You strike me as an uncommonly good 
 
1 70 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 feller in every way. By the by, do you 
 ride?" he asked, irrelevantly. 
 
 " I should smile ! " asseverated the young 
 lady. " You can judge by my horse, the 
 Red Devil, that you re agoin to take. I 
 trained him myself, after two men had given 
 him up. He s a bute, too, though maybe 
 he ain t so fast as your mare. But he s 
 thoroughbred, every inch of him, like she 
 is, too, I suppose ? 
 
 "Yes, Folly s certainly thoroughbred," 
 said Mr. Potts, absently, with his eyes fixed 
 on his companion s face. 
 
 " I don t see how if you re a drummer 
 you happen to have a horse lyin round loose 
 so handy in Aurory," went on Jerroray, 
 with sudden suspicion. " And besides this 
 ain t tellin me your secret even if I am a 
 good feller." 
 
 " It ain t exactly a secret, " said Mr. Potts. 
 " It s only a fact. Only I don t want you 
 to tell anyone that I told it to you. It s 
 merely that though our lately departed 
 friend ain t Mr. Chance, he ain t Tom Nel 
 son either." 
 
 " Do you know that?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 " Could you prove it ? " 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 171 
 
 "I could." 
 
 "Well, why didn t you, then, and keep 
 that jealous little chump, Charley Shore, from 
 actin up so and drivin him out of town ? " 
 "Well, now, that is a secret, Miss 
 Roray. No, don t look like that ; it s a 
 secret you ll know all about some day, if 
 you ll let me tell it to you, but it s a long 
 story, and there isn t time now. I had 
 good reasons for not provin that Mr. Chance 
 wasn t Tom Nelson, and you see he hasn t 
 suffered. He ll have a lot of fun out of it, 
 too, and perhaps he ll meet the great Tom 
 Nelson before he s through with his adven 
 tures, and that ll make him happy." 
 
 " Then he ll get me my diamonds back ! " 
 " He s not very likely to do that," said 
 Mr. Potts, with a smile. "Don t expect 
 impossibilities of an Eastern tenderfoot. 
 
 Eastern tenderfoot ! exclaimed Miss 
 Roray. 
 
 " You surely didn t think he came from 
 Nebraska, did you?" inquired Mr. Potts. 
 " He s an Easterner and a Harvard man, out 
 here on a lark, and under an assumed name, 
 so that if he gets into difficulties his family 
 won t know it. He s a first-rate feller, too, 
 and I like him, or I wouldn t have taken all 
 
I7 2 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 this trouble to save his precious hide, and 
 lent him the best mare he ever threw a leg 
 over. But he won t bring you back your 
 diamonds mark my words ! " 
 
 "Will you, then?" 
 
 " My dear young lady, Tom Nelson s a 
 man of gallantry, who don t suffer other 
 gentlemen to do his duty for him. If you 
 receive your diamonds back it ll be from 
 his own hands. I can t even hope that he ll 
 let me be his emissary. He s seen you, and 
 that s enough. They ve told me what he 
 said to you on the train, and he ll keep that 
 half promise as religiously as if he d taken 
 his oath." 
 
 "My, but he must be a dandy! " cried 
 Jerroray, enthusiastically. "An you seem 
 to know a lot about him ? " 
 
 "I ve met him, as I told you," said Mr. 
 Potts. " But what s more to the point, 
 I ve happened to know some of his friends 
 very well, and from what they ve told me 
 it ain t difficult for me to guess what d be 
 the effect on him of meetin you in one of 
 his hold-ups. He s a passionate admirer of 
 beauty, and you re the most beautiful 
 woman I ve ever seen." 
 
 " That s an A No. i," said Jerroray, with 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 173 
 
 frank pleasure. "And I should like to re 
 mark that you ain t any slouch yourself," 
 she added, by way of the retort courteous. 
 " I don t believe even Tom Nelson can beat 
 you on looks." 
 
 " I am afraid we ll none of us stand any 
 chance after you ve once seen Mr. Nelson," 
 said Jack Potts, with a deep sigh. " Good- 
 by I must go. Think of me sometimes 
 kindly, for I will never forget you." He 
 took her hand as before, and this time kissed 
 it gallantly in addition to the pressure, and 
 as he looked at her for a final moment be 
 fore he let it drop there was the same bold 
 significance in his eyes, under which hers 
 sank, while a vivid blush overspread her 
 face. 
 
 Did Mr. Chance ever make you blush ? 
 he asked, in a low voice. 
 
 "No," she replied, with averted looks, 
 " nor any other feller. I don t like it." 
 
 Mr. Potts laughed contentedly, and in an 
 other moment was gone. The Red Devil, 
 was in a particularly devilish mood after two 
 days in the stable, and quite refused at first 
 to submit to his new mwter s requirements, 
 but walked about on his hind legs, to Miss 
 Roray s extreme delight. Mr. Potts was 
 
174 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 evidently an expert horseman, however, and 
 soon had him in hand, and then set off at a 
 strong gallop towards the western sun. Jer- 
 roray watched them with her nose flattened 
 against the kitchen window, until they were 
 too far away and the sun too dazzling for 
 her to see them longer. Then she sat down 
 on the wash-bench and clasped her hands 
 about her knee, and looked at the old Irish 
 woman, comfortably making pies in the clut 
 tered, messy kitchen. 
 
 " Biddy," said the young lady, "so much 
 never happened to me in all my life before 
 as has happened in the last twenty-four 
 hours." 
 
 " Mercy on us ! You don t say so ! " ex 
 claimed Biddy. She had spent ten of the 
 more impressionable years of her life in New 
 England and spoke a mixed dialect. 
 
 " Yes," pursued Jerroray, " when I went 
 away from here yesterday I was engaged to 
 Charley Shore, but I ain t engaged to him 
 any longer, and since then I ve met three 
 other gentlemen that I like awfully and 
 and I don t know which one of them I m in 
 love with." 
 
 " The Lord have pity on us ! " exclaimed 
 Biddy. She had abandoned her pies, and 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE 175 
 
 stood with arms akimbo and mouth ajar, lis 
 tening to this extraordinary heart history. 
 
 " Yes," pursued Jerroray, " and I m very 
 much in love, too, a great deal more than 
 ever I was with Charley Shore, but I can t 
 for the life of me tell which one it is." 
 
 " Might it be any of thim gintlemen as 
 was here this afternoon ? 
 
 " Yes, those two, and the polite train rob 
 ber that held me up last night. I told you 
 how perfectly lovely he was. And this Mr. 
 Chance was at the ball, and he dances just 
 splendid, and I began to think I liked him 
 most as well as the train robber. And 
 Potts was on the train this mornin , and I 
 liked him, too he was so awful fascinatin 
 and funny I almost thought he was nicer n 
 Chance even. But then they all seemed to 
 think Chance was Tom Nelson, so if he was 
 two of em that settled it I was in love 
 with him sure. But now it looks as if he 
 ain t Nelson, and I like Potts better n bet 
 ter he s got such an awful takin way with 
 him. But Nelson himself may turn up 
 any time, and perhaps he ll be best of all. 
 So I m just as mixed as I can be, Biddy, 
 and I don t know what to do. What s 
 the fun of bein in love if you don t know 
 
1 76 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 who it s with ? I call it right down tantal- 
 izin ." 
 
 So it is, Jerry, so it is. But I don t see 
 how you can do any thin but wait for some- 
 thin to straighten it out for ye. An if one 
 of em does turn out to be yer train robber, 
 too, why, then that ll settle it best of any 
 way. 
 
 "I m afraid there s no such luck," said 
 Jerroray, with a deep sigh. "And it s so 
 tryin not to know. You can t tell which 
 you want to be nicest to you can t play 
 any one of em straight. I don t believe 
 a girl ever had three such elegant gentlemen- 
 friends all at once. Say, Biddy, let me help 
 you make pies and see if that won t clear 
 my mind up. Give me a big apron and let 
 me have the rollin pin." 
 
 Thus, when the sheriff and his posse ar 
 rived a few minutes later they found the sher 
 iff s daughter so deeply engaged in culinary 
 pursuits that she paid scant attention to their 
 request for information about Mr. Chance. 
 
 " Chance ? Oh, he went off ever so long 
 ago." 
 
 " Which way ? How long ago ? 
 
 Oh, half an hour or an hour ago or so. 
 Which way did he go, Biddy? " 
 
A CHOICE OF THREE i?7 
 
 Biddy hadn t noticed : she was bakin 
 pies. 
 
 " You ll have to ask Ernest. What you 
 want him for, anyway ? Coin to give him 
 a dinner-party ? I ll contribute a strawberry 
 pie to the entertainment." And Jerroray, 
 balancing a pie on her hand, laughed in her 
 father s face with an exasperating impudence 
 which appeared to gratify her parent quite 
 as much as the most filial deference could 
 have done. 
 
 "I knew she wouldn t tell on him," he 
 said proudly to his attendants. " Jerry s 
 always dead game." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE DEN OF THIEVES 
 
 Tom Nome s spirits rose higher and 
 higher the farther he rode over the wide 
 prairie and the more he fell in with the swing 
 of Folly s elastic, measured stride. He was 
 completely in love with the beautiful mare 
 before he had gone half a mile, and leaned 
 forward often and patted her glistening, 
 slender neck. Miss Folly only tossed her 
 head, however, at these demonstrations of 
 regard, and abated her gallop not one jot. 
 She did condescend to turn one clean-cut 
 little ear backwards to gather up the honeyed 
 words that Tom poured into it, but there 
 was a scornful look the while in her big, 
 soft eye, as if she would say to him, " You 
 must be a fool to think I like anyone but my 
 own master to make love to me. You re 
 just wasting your words, Mr. Chance, of 
 Nebraska, but if it amuses you it certainly 
 doesn t hurt me, and you really have rather 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 179 
 
 a pleasant hand on my mouth. So long as 
 you don t jerk me we ll be friendly, at least. 
 It s something in your favor that you should 
 know enough to appreciate that I m one 
 horse in ten thousand, as you just remarked." 
 Tom judged that they were going at the 
 rate of a mile in three minutes, and when ten 
 minutes had passed drew the mare up and 
 took a survey of the horizon. Ahead was a 
 range of mountains, softening gradually in the 
 afternoon light and apparently not very far 
 away, while around him lay the great stretch 
 of prairie, rolling a little as he rode over it, 
 but looking in the distance as level as a sum 
 mer sea. The Roray mansion and the little 
 town behind it seemed still very near, but he 
 was already familiar with the curious decep 
 tions of the atmosphere on these high plains, 
 and this did not disturb him. No one was 
 in sight in his pursuit, or anywhere else on 
 the prairie. He loosened his hand on the 
 curb still more, pressed his heels gently 
 against Folly s sides and started her off again. 
 She gave her head a little toss and the rein 
 a pull, as if in celebration of the extra free 
 dom allowed her, and walked along a few 
 moments with alert, forward ears, looking 
 first to the one side and then to the other. 
 
i8o YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " That s it, you beauty," murmured Tom, 
 encouragingly. " Make a good choice of 
 your road and then stick to it. 
 
 Folly had now apparently made up her 
 mind, and the decision seemed to awaken in 
 it joyous anticipations or reminiscences, for 
 with a wide, low shake of her head, which 
 expressed complete abandonment to delight, 
 and implicated her heels in a smart little 
 sympathetic kick-up, she set off again, this 
 time on a most inspiriting, fast trot, which 
 covered the ground quite as rapidly as her 
 previous gallop. She had changed their 
 direction a good deal more toward the south, 
 and Tom noticed that she hardly deviated 
 at all from it, though with no evident path 
 to guide her. He saw at considerable dis 
 tances as they sped along one or two lonely 
 ranches, and once they had to skirt a bit of 
 high wire fence, but they saw not a single 
 human being, far or near. Folly allowed 
 herself a five minutes walk after half an hour 
 or more of steady trotting, and then went on 
 at a somewhat less rapid gait, though with 
 no evidence of diminished spirits or inter 
 est. 
 
 Tom s excitement was now a little cooled, 
 and he began to review the events of the 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 181 
 
 last few hours, to wonder what was going to 
 happen to him, and to ask himself if he 
 should really go on and let Folly take him 
 to the destination she was bent on. He 
 might so easily get out of the State instead, 
 thus escaping his danger altogether. He let 
 his thoughts run on as to how he could 
 safely get the mare back to Jack Potts if he 
 did that and to what he should then do with 
 himself; but in the midst of his plans he 
 had a sudden revulsion of feeling, which 
 turned him right-about-face. 
 
 " The idea of giving it up now ! " he said 
 to himself. That would be a crazy thing 
 to do ! Here I am well in for a bona-fide 
 adventure, with half a dozen mysteries at 
 tached and unlimited future possibilities. 
 Get out of it ? Not much ! No matter 
 what the danger I may be running into, I 
 must go on now to satisfy my curiosity, if 
 for nothing else. There are so many things 
 to be elucidated. In the first place, what on 
 earth made these idiots think me Tom Nel 
 son ? And then why should Jack Potts, 
 after six hours acquaintance, care to take 
 the trouble to get me out of their clutches ? 
 Perhaps he thinks I m Tom Nelson, too, in 
 spite of his saying I wasn t. By George, 
 
1 82 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 that must be it ! " and Tom found much 
 corroboration for this theory as he ran in his 
 mind over all that had happened, and re 
 membered Mr. Potts s peculiar and persist 
 ent smile. 
 
 " He seemed taken with Jerroray greatly 
 taken. Possibly he just wished to get me 
 out of her way. But then how in the devil 
 did he have this clever beast so handy ? He 
 can t keep horses in every town he visits. 
 Could the Reaches, with their names all 
 parted in the middle, have got the nag for 
 him?" And Tom befogged his brain in 
 vain attempts to explain Mr. Jack Potts and 
 his abundant resources, equine and otherwise. 
 " Folly s been this road many a time before, 
 or she d not go it so true and steady. Oh, 
 you pretty blackbird," he said to her in a 
 caressing voice, " if I knew all you know I 
 should be a good deal wiser than I am. 
 
 He looked his pistols over carefully, and 
 congratulated himself on having lately ac 
 quired the habit of wearing them. He tore 
 his mutilated handkerchief into shreds and 
 left it on the plain behind him, while he re 
 garded with a grimace one of the substitutes 
 he had purchased in Aurora. He remem 
 bered his " boiled shirts" in the extension 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 183 
 
 bag at the hotel, each with a neat red T. N v< 
 on the tab in front. " What a fool I was to 
 travel around with such give-aways as that ! 
 Anyhow there s not an initial on my present 
 outfit, and nothing to make Tom Nelson, if 
 he met me, think I had $700 aboard. And 
 I m not a half bad shot with the revolver, as 
 my competitors found in the late shooting 
 match at Titus City; and, besides, not 
 really caring a cent what may happen to me, 
 I sha n t be nervous. And if my being taken 
 for Tom Nelson could by any possibility end 
 in my making that gentleman s acquaintance 
 well, I d ask nothing better. Hurrah for 
 Folly ! " he suddenly shouted aloud, wav 
 ing his hat over his head. " Wisdom to the 
 wall forever ! " 
 
 Folly took these demonstrations as an in 
 dication that more speed was required of 
 her, and leaped into a run in about a sec 
 ond s time. Tom had never ridderi so fast 
 in his life, and he held his breath with de 
 light in it. " Gently, my bird gently, 
 my beauty," he said, drawing her up at last. 
 " Don t wind yourself, for so far as I can 
 see we aren t getting anywhere at all, and 
 you ve still a good deal of a road before 
 you." 
 
1 84 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 The mountains ahead, which looked so 
 near at the start, seemed somehow scarcely 
 any nearer yet, but a long spur extended 
 out into the plain, parallel with Folly s 
 route, detaching itself in more vivid color 
 from the rest of the range, and seeming al 
 most close enough to hit with a stone. Tom 
 calculated, however, that it was fully five 
 miles distant, if not more ; while ahead 
 there might still be fifteen or twenty miles 
 before the plain gave way to the mountain. 
 Suddenly there was a dip in the ground, and 
 across their path lay a sluggish stream, wind 
 ing away to the south. Folly quickened 
 her pace and made straight for the edge of 
 the creek, at a spot where the marks of 
 many hoofs indicated a ford. They were 
 soon on the other side, and then the mare 
 turned almost at right angles and went off 
 with renewed speed towards the nearer spur 
 of the mountains. No signs of human life 
 were visible yet, even when they were close 
 under the edge of the hill, but they struck a 
 trail which took them up and around it, and 
 brought them into a wooded ravine, and 
 then all at once they arrived at a camp and 
 were greeted by the baying of a melancholy 
 hound. Folly trotted across the rough 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 185 
 
 clearing to a long shed that was evidently 
 her stable, and answered politely the loud 
 and enthusiastic whinnies that saluted her 
 from within. In an instant a man appeared 
 from another long, low building above, 
 which had eight or ten front doors opening 
 on a common porch. As he slouched down 
 the hill Tom jumped off and stood waiting 
 with a pleasant smile, but the man neither 
 looked at him nor responded to his greeting. 
 He opened a door and led Folly inside the 
 shed, where he proceeded to remove her 
 gear and rub her down, leaving Tom to take 
 care of himself as he might choose. 
 
 Tom, with his hands in his pockets, 
 looked in at the open door. " She needs 
 a good rubbing," he said. " She s come a 
 long distance splendidly. 
 
 The man only grunted in an irritated way, 
 and finally, when Tom followed up one or 
 two similar observations with a request to 
 be informed where he should go, his new 
 acquaintance suggested that he d better go 
 to hell, and be quick about it, too. 
 
 Thus admonished, our hero strolled up 
 the hill, with his eye watchfully on the long 
 cabin, within whose many front doors 
 seemed to lie infinite possibilities. Would 
 
1 86 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 his host be as sweet-tempered as the hostler, 
 he wondered, or was the amiable hostler 
 perhaps his host ? He knocked on the first 
 door, and receiving no answer, moved on to 
 the second, where his knock was followed 
 by one grunt, two snores, and the sound of 
 a person asleep turning over in bed. Then 
 he knocked on the third door, which flew 
 open, while an indignant red head and a re 
 volver appeared. Tom began hurriedly to 
 explain, but the owner of the red head was 
 evidently no more interested in his conver 
 sation than the other man had been. 
 
 "Pete I say, Pete!" he called out 
 down the hill, and, on Pete s appearance, 
 
 " Where d this d d nuisance come from, 
 
 and why hain t you shot him ? " 
 
 " Come in on the black mare just now. 
 I don t shoot folks without orders," said 
 Pete. 
 
 " Well, lock him up in the kennel, then ; 
 he s bound to wake us all up and keep us 
 awake. Fling him a bone to keep him quiet, 
 if it s grub he wants, and we ll use him for a 
 target bimeby, when we re ready to amuse 
 ourselves." The red head was decorated 
 with a fiendish grin as it uttered these words, 
 and the revolver was held so that Tom 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 187 
 
 looked straight into its shining muzzle. 
 He caught himself wondering, as he did so, 
 why he was not more alarmed. 
 
 "I m only a passenger," he observed, 
 with irresponsible cheerfulness. 
 
 " And therefore to be held up," said the 
 red-headed gentleman, sententiously. 
 
 " Is that the necessary order of entertain 
 ment ? Tom ventured to inquire. 
 
 " What sort of d d entertainment do 
 
 you expect in a Den of Thieves ? inquired 
 a bearded monster, who had apparently been 
 impelled by curiosity to come and look over 
 the red-headed man s shoulder. 
 
 " Oh a Den of Thieves," said Tom, a 
 little weakly. 
 
 "Yes, a Den of Thieves," returned the 
 new-comer, fiercely. " Got anything to say 
 to that ? Any criticisms to offer ? Spit em 
 out quick if you have. 
 
 " Oh, no none at all none at all," said 
 Mr. Norrie, with elaborate politeness. " On 
 the contrary, it sounds very charming er 
 forty thieves ? " he inquired. 
 
 "Never you mind how many," said the 
 bearded gentleman. 
 
 "Enough to make you into bloomin 
 hash," added the red-headed one. 
 
1 88 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " I was only thinking," explained Tom 
 cordially, " that if they re all as agreeable 
 as you two gentlemen, there couldn t be too 
 many. And I was hoping I should meet 
 them all as soon as possible. Of course I m 
 excessively sorry I waked you up, but I 
 wouldn t have missed the pleasure of making 
 your acquaintance for anything." Tom 
 had been gazing pretty intently at the re 
 volver so far, but was conscious, at the same 
 time, of the appearance of several other hu 
 man beings on the porch ; and now, some 
 what accustomed to the perils of his sit 
 uation, allowed himself to look about. A 
 Chinaman and an albino boy regarded him 
 from one side, and from the door above, 
 where he had heard the snores, three more 
 men had come out, and were looking on 
 with interest. 
 
 " Don t scare worth a d n, does he, 
 Gully?" said one of these new-comers, a 
 tall, hulking, large-boned boy. 
 
 " Well, he ain t quite such a lady as he 
 looks," admitted the red-headed Gully, un 
 cocking his pistol, and putting it in his belt. 
 
 " We ll put up a show later that ll terror 
 ize him some, threatened the black-bearded 
 man, whom the others addressed as Snide. 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 189 
 
 "It don t agree with me to be waked up, 
 and it don t agree any better with the d n 
 fool that does it." Snide stepped out on 
 the porch, stretched himself, and yawned 
 loudly with the abandon of a big animal. 
 
 The yawn proved infectious, and after the 
 others had gone through the same process 
 they all sat down on the bench that ran 
 along the porch and talked the situation 
 over. They discussed Tom and his appear 
 ance with as much frankness as if he hadn t 
 been there, or as if he were a curiosity in a 
 cage. They pawed him over and emptied 
 his pockets, possessing themselves of his pis 
 tols, his watch, and some thirty dollars in 
 his purse, while he blessed himself inward 
 ly for having concealed the large amount of 
 ready money that he carried in a place be 
 yond their conjecture. 
 
 " He don t wear no money belt," de 
 clared Gully, feeling of Tom s waist with 
 suspicious care. " Guess he ain t blessed 
 with a large amount of plunks. 
 
 Gully had passed on Tom s wallet, after 
 emptying all the money out, to the ungainly 
 boy, who answered indiscriminately to the 
 names of Baby, Bub, Trilby, Girlie, and a 
 few others. This engaging youth had since 
 
igo YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 been industriously exploring the papers which 
 it contained, and now gave a whoop of de 
 light and waved Janet s picture in the air. 
 Tom had to endure the agony of seeing him 
 kiss it, press it dramatically to his heart, and 
 otherwise carry on with it in a way that 
 made Mr. Norrie anxious to punch his head 
 in. The others all admired it, and allowed 
 that she was a neat gal, but the obnox 
 ious Trilby did not cease to talk about it, 
 and produced it frequently from his breast 
 pocket for further offensive attentions. Mr. 
 Norrie forced himself to look amiable and 
 easy throughout this ordeal, but he regis 
 tered a vow that Trilby should pay well for 
 his impudence if he ever got out of his pres 
 ent predicament. " He s a heavy lout," 
 thought Tom, " but he looks as if he couldn t 
 manage himself much better than a mastiff 
 puppy. Wonder if I ve forgotten how to 
 wrestle?" 
 
 Tom s few attempts to join pleasantly in 
 the conversation were discouraged with per 
 emptory suggestions to shut up, and not be 
 too fresh, enforced by still more peremptory 
 revolvers. When he hoped to secure more 
 courteous treatment by telling them of his 
 friend, Mr. Jack Potts, their hilarity was 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 191 
 
 great, and they made an endless number of 
 puns and jokes, with Mr. Potts s name as a 
 basis and the game of poker to ring the 
 changes on. They represented themselves 
 as entirely unacquainted with any Jack Potts, 
 and were sure that they didn t want him for 
 a friend, if this was the pokerish sort of a 
 trick he played on those he loved. Tom, 
 indeed, looking on their villainous faces 
 Snide was easily quite his ideal of a mur 
 derer and a cut-throat, and some of the 
 others looked hardly less evil began seri 
 ously to doubt the sincerity of Mr. Potts s 
 intentions, and to wonder a little forlornly 
 what would be the outcome of the great 
 trust he had reposed in that perfidious gen 
 tleman. His possession of the black mare, 
 and the black mare s bee line from Aurora 
 to the Den of Thieves, were more than ever 
 unfathomable mysteries in the light of his 
 not being himself known in that attractive 
 resort. On a sudden impulse he asked whose 
 horse Folly was, but regretted it bitterly 
 when at once they greeted him with cheers 
 as a jolly horse thief. 
 
 " Say, ain t you a little green, though ? " 
 " She s your horse, ain t she, if you tuck 
 her?" 
 
192 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 ; " Did you shoot the man or trick him? " 
 
 " Guess you knew where you was comin , 
 arter all, when you made for the Den of 
 Thieves." 
 
 Our hero was immensely relieved when 
 the red-eyed boy finally announced that 
 " breakfus " was ready, and they all moved 
 on down the porch to what they called the 
 " grub-room," where the Chinaman cooked 
 and served their meals. 
 
 They made a long evening of it after the 
 " breakfast," with plenty to drink, and Tom 
 as a butt for jokes. As they grew more hi 
 larious they actually set him up as a target, 
 and fired bullets around him with great dex 
 terity. They were so drunk by this time 
 that Tom was more frightened than he had 
 been at all, but he managed to conceal his 
 emotions under a fairly cool manner, and 
 they soon tired of the pursuit. At last, real 
 izing perhaps, that they were not in the 
 best condition to guard him, they gave the 
 grim Pete orders to put him to bed, and Tom 
 turned in in the " kennel," which was by no 
 means so bad as its name, with a great sense 
 of thankfulness that he still kept a whole 
 skin. 
 
 Among other valuable accomplishments 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 193 
 
 acquired since he had so suddenly retired 
 from business, Mr. Norrie had learned to 
 sleep well, and in spite of the ticklishness of 
 his situation and the great racket set up by 
 the merry-makers close by, he was off in a 
 very few minutes. His long ride across the 
 plains and the late hour of the ball at Bud 
 only the night before, though it . seemed to 
 him a week since, contributed to keep him 
 from being troubled by insomnia, and it was 
 thus high noon before he awoke the next 
 day. 
 
 The stout door of the kennel, which Pete 
 had locked as he left him, now stood open, 
 and there was a pleasant hum of insects and 
 twitter of birds in the warm sunshine out 
 side. Our hero was wide awake in an in 
 stant, recalling all that happened the pre 
 vious night, and at once got up and looked 
 warily out on the porch. With a thrill of 
 joy he saw Jack Potts calmly sitting there 
 and smoking his pipe. Down the hill Pete 
 was rubbing off one horse, while several 
 others stood about in the shade, switching 
 their tails, and at the kitchen end of the 
 cabin the Chinaman and the boy were mov 
 ing in and out about their domestic la 
 bors. No one else was visible, though a 
 13 
 
194 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 sound of voices came from one of the rooms 
 beyond. 
 
 Jack Potts suddenly heard something, and 
 turned quickly. "Oh, it s you," he said. 
 " Good-morning, Mr. Chance. Want some 
 breakfast first, or a pipe ? 
 
 "I had my breakfast at five o clock tea 
 last night," said Tom, sitting down on the 
 edge of the porch. 
 
 "And prefer to dine on the following 
 day? Well, Yung Wun s getting dinner for 
 us all, so that ll just suit. You look happy. 
 
 " I feel so," said Tom. " I was never so 
 glad to see anybody in my life." 
 
 Mr. Potts smiled. " How d you like 
 Tom Nelson ? " he inquired. 
 
 Tom Nelson ? said Tom Norrie, 
 aghast. " I haven t seen Tom Nelson." 
 
 "Sure of that?" asked Jack Potts, 
 calmly. 
 
 "Good Lord! he can t be one of those 
 villains that entertained me last night ! " 
 
 "Think not? What did they do to 
 you ? 
 
 Mr. Chance, of Nebraska, narrated feel 
 ingly his experiences in the Den of Thieves, 
 while Jack Potts continued to smile. 
 
 "And you didn t recognize Tom Nel- 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 195 
 
 son ?" he asked. "I supposed you d see 
 through his disguise the first thing." 
 
 Tom was thoroughly puzzled. Gully ? 
 Snide? Trilby? The others? None of them 
 could be Tom Nelson. Wild thoughts even 
 came into his head of the Chinaman and the 
 albino boy. 
 
 " Well, if you care anything about meet- 
 in Mr. Nelson," continued Jack Potts, "he 
 was in that room yonder ^a few minutes ago. 
 You d better go along and inquire for him. 
 He s been told of the interest you take in 
 him, and he s much flattered." 
 
 Tom rose a little reluctantly. Now that 
 he was so near the object of his desire 
 he suddenly felt that it was all very flat. 
 "Won t you come along and introduce 
 me?" he asked, but Jack Potts shook his 
 head. 
 
 " Tom Nelson is an old story to me," he 
 said, " and I m very comfortable here." 
 
 So Tom walked along the porch and in at 
 the open door which Mr. Potts had signified. 
 Snide was sitting there alone, his feet on the 
 table and a pipe in his mouth. 
 
 " Hullo," he said to himself reflectively, 
 " here s the bloomin target again. Wonder 
 what he wants ? 
 
196 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " I want to see Tom Nelson," said Tom. 
 
 " Well I ve no objections. See him all 
 you want to ? " 
 
 " Can you tell me where I can find him ? 
 
 " I dessay I could if I wanted to. Tain t 
 against the law to look for him," and Snide 
 pointed over his shoulder with his thumb to 
 a door opening into the room beyond. 
 
 Tom passed through it, and came upon the 
 boy, Gully, and Button, one of the other 
 men, playing at poker, while the fifth mem 
 ber of the gang, known as Jinks, or, if you 
 wished to be especially polite, High Jinks, 
 was visible in the next room, sound asleep 
 on one of the so-called beds. 
 
 " Good-morning," said Tom, politely. 
 
 "Oh goodby," responded Gully with 
 equal urbanity. 
 
 " Is is Tom Nelson here ? " asked Tom, 
 feeling flatter than ever. 
 
 " Didn t you hear what Gully said? " de 
 manded Trilby with an ugly frown. " We re 
 havin a quiet little game and don t want to 
 be interrupted." 
 
 " Jack Potts told me to look in here for 
 Tom Nelson," said Tom, even more weakly, 
 but returning Trilby s frown with one equal 
 ly malignant. He felt a strong desire to 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 197 
 
 pitch the ungainly boy out of the door, only 
 that at this moment the figure of Mr. Potts 
 appeared in it. 
 
 " Always do as yerbid? " inquired Trilby 
 offensively, unsuspicious of his danger. 
 
 " An who s this yer Jack Potts you re for 
 ever talkin about? " demanded Gully. " I m 
 sick of him, I am. We don t know no Potts 
 round here, and we don t want to. You just 
 shut up on Potts from now on." 
 
 "Gully s sensitive about jack-pots," ob 
 served Trilby, with a grin. " He s lost three 
 since we begun playin ." 
 
 " Well, don t get quarrellin about it the 
 way you did last week," suggested Mr. Potts. 
 " Another such row as that wouldn t be very 
 good for your health, Bub, or for Gully s 
 either." 
 
 There was a quiet tone of authority in Mr. 
 Potts s voice, and Bub looked sulky instead of 
 answering back. A sudden idea dawned on 
 Tom Norrie s mind. Then for about ten 
 seconds that organ was worked so actively in 
 reminiscence confirmatory of the new idea 
 that it would hardly be amiss to say that his 
 brain whirled. 
 
 " Great Heavens ! " he exclaimed. " And 
 to think that it never entered my head before. 
 
198 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 Well, I have been what Jerroray would cal 
 a plumb idiot ! " He looked at his smiling 
 friend in the doorway. " That s why yoi 
 smiled all the time, wasn t it ? " 
 
 "It was a good enough joke, don t yoi 
 think? " 
 
 " I should rise to observe," declared Tom, 
 " Allow me to shake hands with you. What 
 ever we may think about the right or wrong 
 of your profession, Mr. Nelson, your daring 
 and wit combined beat anything since the 
 days of Robin Hood, and I am proud tc 
 know you. In short you exceed my highest 
 expectations ! " 
 
 Tom Nelson and Tom Norrie shook hands 
 in a most friendly manner, while the others 
 looked on, Snide having walked in grinning 
 from the other room, and the sleeper being 
 wakened for the occasion with a chair shied 
 at him by Gully. 
 
 "Now, gentlemen," said Tom Nelson, 
 "havin had your own fun with Mr. Chance 
 last night, suppose this morning you return 
 him his property. 
 
 This was done very good-naturedly, until 
 it came Trilby s turn, and he sulkily pro 
 duced the soiled photograph. 
 
 " You and I have an account to settle," 
 
THE DEN OF THIEVES 199 
 
 said Tom. "If I can t give you a good 
 thrashing I ll at least have a try at it." 
 
 " Bub needs one bad enough," said Tom 
 Nelson, " and I ll thank you if you succeed 
 in givin it to him. Meanwhile let s waive 
 all unpleasantness and eat our dinner. Yung 
 Wun announces that it s ready." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 A PRISONER 
 
 Tom was an inmate of the outlaw s camp 
 for more than a week. The fact that he was 
 a prisoner was not made obvious, but he 
 knew well that he should not be allowed to 
 get away, and that if he tried he might pay 
 for the attempt with his life. But his treat 
 ment at the hands of Nelson was that of a 
 distinguished and congenial guest. The two 
 young men were together almost continu 
 ously, and for the most part out of doors, 
 while the other members of the gang, 
 crowded in one of the small rooms or 
 " caves," as they called them, of the den, 
 played poker from morning until night, and 
 quarrelled as they played. 
 
 Mixed as Tom s feelings might be in other 
 directions, he was in no sort of doubt about 
 his liking for Tom Nelson, and he thor 
 oughly enjoyed this close intercourse with 
 him. To his other charms Nelson added 
 
A PRISONER 201 
 
 that of great candor, and related the events 
 of his career to our hero with most gratify 
 ing frankness. 
 
 " Are you going to shoot me before you re 
 through with me?" inquired Tom, "or 
 why, otherwise, do you entrust me with all 
 these damaging secrets ? " 
 
 " You re the first civilized bein I ve been 
 on intimate terms with for about three 
 years, for one thing," said Nelson, "and 
 your appreciative interest warms my heart. 
 For another thing, I contemplate retirin* 
 from my business, as you ve done from 
 yours, and when I ve skipped it would be 
 difficult to find me. Besides, I m rarely 
 mistaken in men, and I d stake anythin on 
 your not betrayin me even to get your 
 self out of a tight hole." 
 
 Tom Nelson, by his own account, was 
 the scapegrace son of a Chicago million 
 aire and "self-made" man. This gentle 
 man, having succeeded so admirably, as he 
 thought, in the manufacture of himself, had 
 rendered his wife miserable for a matter of a 
 quarter of a century or so, in a determined 
 attempt to improve on the handiwork of 
 Providence and fashion her over in his own 
 image. Failing quite in giving to the poor 
 
202 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 lady those methodical and saving habits and 
 that hard singleness of mind to which he at 
 tributed his great success, he nevertheless set 
 about the rearing of his only son in these 
 habits and this mind, according to a cast- 
 iron recipe made up from his experience. 
 He was a hard man and his rule was hard. 
 He allowed no leeway and never overlooked 
 a fault. Tom, too spirited to stand this 
 treatment, ran away from home at fourteen, 
 but was brought back after a week or two of 
 vicissitudinous freedom, and promised his 
 mother, whom he loved, that he would try 
 thereafter to bear everything for her sake, 
 and stay by her as her support and comfort. 
 If his mother had lived she might, through 
 his love for her, have made a useful man of 
 him, for he had undeniable talents. But 
 she died before he was eighteen, her heart 
 broken by the long struggle with John Nel 
 son s cold disapproval. Tom and his father 
 quarrelled for three or four years longer, un 
 til at last Tom was expelled from Harvard 
 in the middle of his second year there, and 
 then the elder Nelson broke entirely with 
 his son and left him to shift for himself. 
 
 " Lucky day for me when the old skin 
 flint cast me off," said the outlaw, having 
 
A PRISONER 203 
 
 narrated the story of his life up to this point 
 with full details. " He used me like a dog. 
 There weren t half a dozen fellers in Har 
 vard College whose fathers had so much 
 money as mine, and there weren t half a 
 dozen fellers who had so little to spend 
 themselves. I had to get money by hook or 
 by crook, and, of course, it led me into bad 
 ways. I was always in scrapes from the 
 time I was a little tacker, and they were all 
 owing to the fact that I hadn t money 
 enough, and was too proud to admit that 
 my father wouldn t give it to me. He kept 
 poor mother so tight, making her render a 
 strict account of everything, that she had 
 to falsify her accounts in order to get me a 
 single cent. Dear old mother ! She was a 
 good nough Christian to do it, too. If it 
 hadn t been for her I d be a good deal 
 worse villain than I am. But when the his 
 torians of my career inquire into my school 
 life in Chicago, at Exeter, and finally at 
 Harvard, they ll remark that anyone could 
 easily have foretold the end, for my record s 
 pretty black wherever I went. And when 
 Dad said good-by to me, three years ago, I 
 supplemented his sanctimonious partin ad 
 vice, which was all he gave me to start me 
 
204 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 in my tussle with the world, by breakin 
 into the house the next night, holdin him 
 up and makin him fork over the contents 
 of his safe. I can tell you, the old gent was 
 scared blue ! I was ugly, and he knew it, 
 and he didn t like the looks of my revolver, 
 so he walks downstairs in his night-shirt, 
 without peepin, and undoes his old safe and 
 meekly hands over the needful, and I came 
 off into the bloomin West with somethin 
 besides advice for an outfit. My farewell 
 present to him was the assurance that what 
 ever I did and he agreed with me that I 
 was likely to accomplish somethin pretty 
 disgraceful I d do under the name of Nel 
 son, and advertise, too, whose son I was, 
 and how he used my mother. He s had 
 several pleasant little messages from me since 
 in his mornin paper. You know," he de 
 clared with great earnestness, "I d like so 
 to spite him the worst way that I m most 
 ready to let myself be caught and go to 
 jail." 
 
 "That all explains," said Tom, "why 
 everybody knows your name a circumstance 
 that struck me. as peculiar when I first began 
 to hear about you. 
 
 "Yes. I m a train robber for somethin 
 
A PRISONER 205 
 
 besides the emoluments. I m a train robber 
 for revenge I m payin back a man I hate 
 for all he did to me and my mother," and 
 Mr. Nelson s face wore an expression it was 
 not pleasant to see. " The more notoriety 
 I can give to the name of Nelson the better 
 it suits me," he went on, " and you can bet 
 it s got a lot in the last three years. And 
 I ve had money enough, too, for the first 
 
 time in my life, and had a d d good 
 
 time out of it. I ll miss the fun and excite 
 ment when I ve given it up," he added, 
 with a sigh. "I know I sha n t enjoy a 
 blameless life." 
 
 Tom laughed. "Is that the necessary 
 program ? " he asked. " And why ? " 
 
 Tom Nelson sighed still more deeply. 
 " Spoons on a girl," he said. " Can t ask 
 her to go into this business with me." 
 
 "Pity it isn t Jerroray," said Tom. 
 " She d be delighted with the business, and 
 would like nothing better than to go train 
 robbing on her wedding tour ! 
 
 11 Think so? " said the other Tom care 
 lessly. 
 
 " Well, you ought to have heard her talk 
 about you that night at Bud, if you doubt 
 it. And you know when you joined our 
 
2o6 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 afternoon tea with the announcement that I 
 was suspected of being the great Mr. Nel 
 son, she grew sweet on me in no time. She 
 squeezed my hand on the back steps, and 
 I ve felt ever since that I lost one of the op 
 portunities of my life in not kissing her. I 
 know she would have let me do it." 
 
 "You hadn t any time to spare," ob 
 served Mr. Nelson, as if the conversation 
 didn t interest him much. 
 
 " But she d be very nice sweet kissing all 
 the same," persisted Tom. "I never saw 
 a complexion like hers she looks luscious 
 enough to eat." 
 
 " How about the girl in the photograph 
 for whose sake you wiped up the corral with 
 Bub and yourself alternately, and got your 
 self that superior black eye? " 
 
 "Well, I licked the odious Infant," de 
 clared Tom. 
 
 " Yes but how about the girl ? " 
 
 "Oh, she s dark," said Tom. "Dark 
 women never have complexions like Jerro- 
 ray s or light ones, either, for that mat 
 ter." 
 
 " But you like her, don t you ? Else why 
 should you smash poor Bub into such a 
 jelly?" 
 
A PRISONER 207 
 
 "I d have smashed Bub all the same if it 
 had been a girl I didn t know. He s the 
 most obnoxious young man I ever met. 
 Nothing ever happened to me that did me so 
 much good as beating him. I was afraid he 
 was too heavy for me." 
 
 11 So he was," said the outlaw, " but you 
 had the most brains. You beat him by 
 brains. It was a fine thing to see. 
 
 Tom smiled with pleasure at this tribute. 
 
 " I wish that girl could have seen it," 
 added Nelson, artfully. " She d have liked 
 you then, even if you don t like her." 
 
 "Ah, no, that s just the trouble," said 
 Tom, gloomily, falling into the trap. " I 
 like her much better than she likes me. 
 
 " Oh, pooh she s foolin you, as girls al 
 ways do," said Mr. Nelson. " She couldn t 
 help likin you. J 
 
 Whereupon our hero, as his astute friend 
 desired, told him all about Janet and his late 
 sad experience with her, and found it de 
 lightful to unburden his heart to so sympa 
 thetic a listener. " I ve never spoken of 
 this to a soul before," he said. "I don t 
 know why I should tell you." 
 
 " Because I wanted so much to know," 
 said Tom Nelson, with sudden hilarity. 
 
208 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 11 You ve made rne a very happy man. I 
 was afraid you were my serious rival with 
 Jerroray, but you can t be in love with two 
 girls at once." 
 
 Tom rose gravely and shook hands with 
 Nelson. " I offer you my congratulations 
 on having placed your affections upon one of 
 the most interesting and attractive young 
 women I ever met," he said. "And since 
 you are really Tom Nelson, as well as the 
 agreeable Jack Potts, you will have no diffi 
 culty in winning her, for her heart is roman 
 tic and her imagination is greatly fired by 
 your exploits. And I venture to predict 
 that, however tame and blameless a life you 
 may lead, with Jerroray as a companion you 
 will never find it insipid. Boredom could 
 not exist alongside her. And in twenty years 
 she will be even handsomer than she is now. 
 
 Nelson returned his handshake with feel 
 ing. " This does my heart good," he said. 
 " She is a peach now isn t she ? " 
 
 "She s a most superlative peach," de 
 clared Tom. " A California peach, a peach 
 of the finest bloom and rarest flavor. I envy 
 you unspeakably its lifelong consumption ! 
 Tom Nelson stared at him upon this last re 
 mark. " But but the other girl ? 
 
A PRISONER 209 
 
 " If I could have won Jerroray I should 
 have forgotten the other girl in five min 
 utes," said Tom Norrie, very gloomily. For 
 the time being he actually thought it. All 
 the possible embarrassments of marriage to 
 Jerroray vanished from his mind, and he 
 dwelt with regret upon her abundant charms. 
 j ane t well, Janet was far away, and had 
 jilted him besides. And then she was too 
 staid, too Eastern, to live the Bohemian life 
 he meant to live hereafter, and it would just 
 have suited Jerroray. And Jerroray liked 
 him, too. By an ardent pursuit he might 
 perhaps have turned that liking into some 
 thing more tender and more deep. How 
 adorable it would have been to be the ob 
 ject of her frank and artless affection ! He 
 felt himself a blighted being in good earnest 
 and sentimentally gloated in it, as all gen 
 uine blighted beings must ever do. But it 
 was eminently in accord with the novel sit 
 uation in which he found himself that he 
 should chivalrously resign his pretensions in 
 favor of the robber lord, who, if not his 
 feudal superior, was certainly his superior in 
 arms and equipment and an excellent fellow 
 to boot. " It is better that you should have 
 her," he said, generously. "You are more 
 14 
 
210 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 fitted to make her happy." This original 
 sentiment pleased him. He remembered 
 that in plays the villain always said it to the 
 hero in the last act, and was glad that he 
 happened to think of it so appropriately. 
 11 1 suppose you ll have a church wedding at 
 Aurora and the Terror to give his daughter 
 away ? " he asked with courageous cheerful 
 ness. 
 
 " I prefer quiet weddin s," said Nelson, 
 with a smile. " I don t think we ll ask the 
 sheriff. " 
 
 "I hope it may be soon," said Tom. 
 " She must get herself a superior wedding 
 present with the stakes of our wager, for 
 you ve won not only that, but everything 
 else half a dozen jack-pots to bless your 
 lucky choice of a name. 
 
 " You know that wager wasn t fair," said 
 Mr. Nelson. " If it had been arranged the 
 ordinary way I should have given you back 
 your money, of course. 
 
 " I d far rather the bride should have it," 
 said Tom. 
 
 " It s funny the change of foelin I went 
 through about you," continued Nelson, in 
 a reminiscent tone. " I haven t told you 
 what a narrow escape you had. I don t 
 
A PRISONER 2ii 
 
 quite know that I want to now even, for 
 since I know you and like you so well it 
 
 seems a d d snide trick to have thought 
 
 of playin on you. 
 
 But Tom s curiosity was strongly roused, 
 and he became so urgent in his petitions for 
 information that presently the outlaw began 
 to tell his tale, his countenance decorated 
 with the little characteristic smile of inward 
 amusement that from the first Tom had 
 found so attractive. And as he went on in 
 his narrative of the events of the last two 
 days our hero listened with a more and more 
 absorbed attention, becoming painfully aware 
 of how much may be happening about the 
 ears of complacent simplicity and never 
 even be suspected thereby. And yet he had 
 thought himself so sharp ! 
 
 It seemed that Nelson had a taste for 
 knowing what people thought about him, no 
 matter how dangerous the pursuit of such 
 knowledge might be. Four times had he 
 made trips through Rising Sun and Creosote 
 Counties in his character of a jewelry drum 
 mer once before his career as an outlaw 
 opened, once directly after the first hold-up, 
 and the third time a fortnight later. His 
 adventures had been picturesque, and he 
 
212 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 had overheard or joined in very entertaining 
 conversations anent Mr. Nelson and his ex 
 ploits. He had amused himself by artlessly 
 fostering the incipient tendency to " take 
 pride " in that noted outlaw, and had seized 
 eagerly at the excellent chance he saw to 
 make the train robber a popular character 
 with the masses. Like an actor, he had 
 learned from the people themselves where 
 he could best make his "points with them, 
 and had put in practice cleverly all the sug 
 gestions they innocently gave him. 
 
 His arrival at Bud the morning after the 
 ball, however, following so soon upon his 
 last visit there, and thus likely to arouse sus 
 picion in the minds of reflecting men, had 
 there been any men at all given to reflection, 
 was brought about solely by an interest in 
 Miss Roray. The ingenuous humor of her 
 appeal to him when he held her up, had 
 entertained him greatly, and the more he 
 thought about her the more anxious he was 
 to have another glimpse of her and see if she 
 were really so attractive and original as she 
 seemed. But before he saw her again he 
 had seen Tom, in the office of the Empire 
 Hotel as heretofore narrated. 
 
 " I suppose you haven t frequented post- 
 
A PRISONER 213 
 
 offices much out here ? " he asked, sudden 
 ly, at this juncture. 
 
 " No, I haven t been in one that I know 
 of. Why ? counter-questioned Tom Nor- 
 rie, carelessly. 
 
 " I thought you weren t aware that your 
 family and friends have advertised you as 
 disappeared, giving a full description of 
 you, of course, and offering a reward for in 
 formation about you." 
 
 Our hero emitted an ejaculation of sur 
 prise and disgust. 
 
 " At least, it s in the one at Bud, where 
 I ad just been that mornin , and with my 
 accustomed curiosity I had happened to 
 read it through. I noticed that you had 
 disappeared over ten days before the first of 
 our robberies, which somehow struck me as 
 an interestin fact, and that you ad been at 
 Harvard two or three years before I was. 
 And when I saw you half an hour later in 
 the hotel office at Bud I suspected in an 
 instant that you were Thomas Norrie, Jr., 
 even before I saw the initials on your hand 
 kerchief. As you may remember, my back 
 was turned when you came into the room, 
 and so I heard you speak before I saw you. 
 Your voice was so like my father s, and also 
 
214 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 as I knew, like my own, that it startled me. 
 While you talked with Dicker I stared at 
 you, awestruck with the fatality of the whole 
 thing. We didn t look alike in face, but 
 we were almost identical in size and phy 
 sique and as no one, of course, had seen 
 Tom Nelson s face there was absolutely no 
 obstacle that I could see to palmin you off 
 as myself. The jealousy of Mr. Shore and 
 the other young men over your success 
 with the fair Jerry helped me out won 
 derfully, and there wasn t a man in the 
 car didn t feel sure you were I by the time 
 we reached Aurora. It was the quickest 
 and neatest thing in the world, a perfect 
 train of circumstantial evidence, and you 
 as innocent of it all as an infant ! In 
 short, there was only one out in the whole 
 thing." 
 
 "And what, pray, was that?" inquired 
 Tom, dryly. 
 
 " The fact that I d taken a most untimely 
 and inconvenient shine to you," declared 
 Nelson. " If it hadn t been for that, you d 
 now be languishin in Aurora jail, with 
 state-prison before you." 
 
 " Oh, hardly," protested Tom. " They 
 could never have convicted me, you know. 
 
A PRISONER 215 
 
 My people would have come on to identify 
 me." 
 
 " But your people hadn t seen you since 
 the 25th of April, and our first hold-up 
 didn t take place till the 6th of May." 
 
 " But I was somewhere else on the 6th of 
 May." 
 
 Of course, said Nelson. < But could 
 you prove it satisfactorily to any jury ? 
 He pointed out succinctly to Mr. Norrie 
 the inborn distrust of the Western juryman 
 for alibis, and reminded him of the unprom 
 ising character of his associates since he had 
 come from the East, which would make it the 
 more easy to suspect that their testimony 
 had been bought for the occasion. And 
 when he asked Tom if he remembered where 
 he was, and the names of the men he was 
 with on the three important dates, Tom was 
 surprised to find how hazy was his recollec 
 tion of details. 
 
 But in spite of his being obliged thus to 
 admit that he had had rather a narrow 
 squeak of it, his sentiments towards the out 
 law were entirely of gratitude for his having 
 saved him rather than of resentment for his 
 getting him into such a scrape. In short, 
 Tom Nelson was a man of great fascination, 
 
216 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 and Tom Norrie found it far easier to like 
 him and succumb to his charm than to dis 
 approve of him and resist. It seemed in 
 deed impossible to disapprove of so light- 
 hearted and gay a villain, on whom his vil 
 lainy sat with so gracious an air of irre 
 sponsible youth. Tom often wondered 
 about it, and finally came to the conclusion 
 that the reason he could not think of him 
 as a bad man, was that the outlaw did not 
 think of himself as one. He simply had no 
 moral sense. The fact that the world, as 
 represented by his father, had used him 
 hard, was in his mind excuse enough for all 
 that he cared to do in retaliation. Circum 
 stances had made him a train robber and he 
 got great fun out of his risky profession, 
 while his conscience slept so peacefully that 
 Tom was inclined to argue that he hadn t 
 any. As Tom had somehow felt in his smile 
 and the tone of his voice, the first morning 
 that he saw him, all life was merely an enter 
 taining joke to him, and it was by no means 
 the poorest part of the joke to hold up train 
 after train in exactly the same region, to 
 travel about in the most reckless way imag 
 inable and never to get caught. And there 
 could be no more fitting wind-up to the joke 
 
A PRISONER 217 
 
 than to marry the sheriff s daughter under 
 the sheriff s very nose and leave for parts 
 unknown which, it seemed, was Mr. Nel 
 son s present program if he could secure 
 the lady s consent. 
 
 Nor could Tom anticipate shipwreck for 
 this extraordinary marriage, should it ever be 
 " arranged." In the first place, how could 
 two people, each so unusually attractive, 
 ever fall out of love with each other, having 
 once fallen in ? And if this logic were dis 
 proved by the notorious facts of matrimo 
 ny, there were two even, easy tempers, two 
 excellent common senses, and two superior 
 senses of humor to fall back upon. They 
 would have such a good time, such a jolly 
 time, all the time, that there would never be 
 any leisure time in which to repent. Nor 
 would matrimony lose its charm in settled 
 domesticity they could not be domestic or 
 settled if they tried. Bohemia would always 
 claim them for its own, and impart to their 
 roving manage it was sure to be roving 
 its own delicious touch of eternal youth. 
 Mossiness might be picturesque on rocks and 
 stones, thought Tom, but surely on human 
 beings it was generally synonymous with dull 
 priggishness and narrow minds, and that 
 
2i8 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 fatal flavor of bread and butter which he 
 hated more than anything else. For his 
 own daily food the human rolling-stones, 
 with all these accumulations of settled con 
 ventional prejudice knocked off by contact 
 with the world, and their corners and excre 
 scences smoothed down into comfortable 
 livableness, were the apples of gold and sil 
 ver, and his ideal of what he wished himself 
 to be to others. He looked back upon the 
 man he had been, only a few short weeks 
 before, when Janet had jilted him, and did 
 not wonder at what she had done. He, 
 too, jilted that gone-by Tom Norrie ; but 
 the new one, with a new philosophy of life, 
 or rather an old philosophy long dimly ap 
 prehended, but only now put into practice, 
 was not half a bad sort of fellow. " Could 
 Janet ever be made to think so? " he asked 
 himself, and mournfully shook his head. 
 
 Another hold-up occurred while Tom 
 Norrie was residing at the Den of Thieves. 
 Three of the gang rode off one morning, 
 and Nelson with the other two departed in 
 the afternoon. Pete, silent and irritable as 
 ever, became omnipresent after they had 
 gone, and Tom found it impossible to 
 get out of his sight. He submitted quietly 
 
A PRISONER 219 
 
 to this espionage, and was locked into the 
 kennel as usual at bedtime. 
 
 But though not taken into Mr. Nelson s 
 confidence beforehand, he was told all about 
 the affair the next day. It had been a more 
 than usually successful and also a more than 
 usually exciting raid. The train was a 
 through express from the East, with some 
 rich travellers on it, and there had been 
 many amusing incidents of their unwilling 
 ness to part with their belongings. 
 
 Among other such tales Nelson related the 
 following: " There were several pretty 
 girls aboard, but one in partic lar that could 
 see em all and go em easily ten or twenty 
 better, and she Was as plucky as she was 
 pretty, and mad clear through. You ought 
 to have seen her eyes flash at me. Your 
 money or your life, I says very politely. 
 I ll give you nothin , says she. Any 
 thing you want of mine you ll take by main 
 force or not at all. So I proceeded, as 
 gently as possible, to take possession of a 
 small satchel she carried, which proved to 
 have a lot of money and jewelry in it. She 
 didn t struggle a bit, but simply hung on, 
 and looked all the time straight at me, with 
 set lips and a big frown. I never wished 
 
220 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 I was a man before, says she, and if I had 
 my revolver here I wouldn t now. Can 
 you shoot straight? says I. I d be very 
 glad to show you if you d lend me your 
 pistol and act as a target ? she answered, 
 quick as flash. On the whole I m afraid 
 it wouldn t be quite safe/ says I. Some 
 how you look as if you d hit, and I don t 
 think I care to be hit to-day. But if ever 
 
 we should meet again We will meet 
 
 again, I hope, and in a court of law, says 
 she, < and I ll be a good witness for the 
 prosecution. The old lady with her tried 
 to stop her all the time, loadin me down 
 with her own belongin s and tryin to get 
 round me and smooth things over, but the 
 girl s blood was up, and she had to speak 
 her mind. I liked her for it, too. Folks 
 seem to think courage is all for the men, but 
 it seems to me it suits women just as well. 
 None of your shrinkin little misses for me ! " 
 
 "The modern girl never shrinks," ob 
 served Mr. Norrie. 
 
 Tom Nelson was a born story-teller and 
 went on with his yarns until Tom Norrie s 
 spirit was thoroughly fired. 
 
 "By George, it must be fun," he said, 
 spontaneously. "I wish I d been there!" 
 
A PRISONER 221 
 
 Nelson turned quickly. Do you really ? 
 he asked. " If I d known that I d have 
 taken you. I was afraid you had scruples." 
 
 "Well, so I have, I suppose," laughed 
 Tom. " But I must say I wouldn t mind 
 looking on and participating in the fun 
 though not in the boodle." 
 
 "I d like you to see a hold-up in our 
 best style," said the outlaw, with a note of 
 reflection in his voice. " I had sort of an 
 idea we d make this the last, but hang it all, 
 it s such good fun that I always want one 
 more try before I give it up. I ll have an 
 other, too, and take you along, be d d if 
 
 I won t." 
 
 "Oh, come," said Tom, "don t make 
 me responsible. I don t want you to hold 
 up trains to entertain me." 
 
 " Don t you worry. It s me that s doin 
 it, and I m glad of any excuse for it," said 
 Nelson. "It s like gamblin there s so 
 much risk in it I can t make up my mind to 
 let it alone." 
 
 "It is gambling, said Tom Norrie ; 
 "gambling with your own life for the stake 
 and the world against you." 
 
 They were both quiet for some minutes 
 after this. Tom thought perhaps the outlaw 
 
222 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 was considering the situation seriously at 
 last, but when he finally broke the silence it 
 was with a wholly irrelevant question. 
 
 " By the way, you didn t show me the 
 picture of your girl the other day. I was 
 just goin to ask you for it when well we 
 began talkin about Jerroray and I forgot it, 
 to tell the plain truth. Do you mind lettin 
 me look at her ? 
 
 "No, indeed," said Tom, producing the 
 picture. 
 
 " She is a good-lookin girl," exclaimed 
 the outlaw. " Fine color, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Tom, " she has a good deal 
 of color." 
 
 "Tall, too?" 
 
 " Yes how did you know ? " 
 
 " She looks it a girl so spirited as that 
 ought to be tall, sure. I like her looks a lot. 
 She s worth fightin for, and I shouldn t 
 think you d ever get licked while you had 
 her to think about." 
 
 " It does make a difference," admitted 
 Tom. " If I was licked I d hate her to 
 know it, and somehow that puts staying 
 power into you, and makes you win in the 
 end, even if you are overmatched." 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE PROOF OF COURAGE 
 
 Three or four days after this. Snide, 
 Trilby, and Button mounted their horses in 
 the morning and rode away. Tom s sus 
 picions were quickly aroused, and he was 
 not surprised when Tom Nelson suggested 
 to him later that he should get himself ready 
 for a trip. 
 
 Is it positively your last appearance in 
 the role of train robber ? " he asked. Nel- 
 son nodded. Just let me have your guns, 
 please." he said. 
 
 " My pistols ? What for ? " asked Tom, 
 alarmed. 
 
 " You re to go with us as a prisoner not 
 as an accomplice," exclaimed Mr. Nelson. 
 * Then if you should be caught, bein un 
 armed would be so much in your favor. It 
 simply relieves you of all responsibility and 
 you can enjoy yourself with a free heart 
 see?" 
 
224 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 Tom saw, but nevertheless felt uncomfort 
 able with no means of defence, and wished 
 he had kept his pistols. 
 
 They set out late in the afternoon, and 
 riding slowly but steadily for four or five 
 hours, made a halt finally in a curious sort 
 of bowl dropped down between the rolling 
 hills of the prairie, where the horses of the 
 other three men awaited them with glad 
 whinnies of greeting. The flat bottom of 
 the place was some twenty feet in diameter, 
 while the rise of ground about it was hardly 
 higher than its width. On three sides it was 
 precipitously steep, but in the fourth direc 
 tion there was a gradual slope, down which 
 they rode. They picketed their horses, 
 rubbed them down and fed them, Tom doing 
 what he saw the others do. The night was 
 clear, but moonless and dark. They worked 
 by the light of a single small lantern, hung 
 up on a short stake in the centre of the bowl, 
 and around this feeble luminary, when the 
 horses were attended to, they took their hur 
 ried meal, which Gully had brought in a 
 knapsack. Each man had a stiff drink of 
 whiskey to put heart into him, as Nelson ex 
 pressed it, though Tom noticed that as usual 
 he took none himself. 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 225 
 
 " The thing itself is stimulus enough to 
 me," he said in an undertone, answering 
 Tom s thought. 
 
 Before they left the place the saddles and 
 bridles were put on all the horses again, 
 though some of them had not yet finished 
 their feed. 
 
 We may be in a hurry when we come 
 back," said the outlaw, significantly. " Be 
 sides the bits will keep ^em from eatin too 
 fast and gettin indigestion." 
 
 They climbed up the sides of the bowl and 
 walked along for three or four minutes, Tom 
 taking observations of the stars to aid him 
 in keeping the direction back to the horses. 
 He stayed by Nelson s side, in hopes of hav 
 ing the plan of action more or less explained 
 to him, but the leader of the gang was 
 thoughtful and distraught, and nothing was 
 said until they reached the railroad track. 
 The dark prairie stretched away on every 
 side, crossed by this ribbon of track, which 
 was the only sign of human occupation. 
 There were no lights anywhere below to 
 answer to those above in the deep blue dome 
 of the sky. In the veiling shadows all the 
 unevennesses of the plain were lost, and it 
 seemed as flat as a great floor. 
 15 
 
226 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 Tom s heart began to beat with the sense 
 of mystery and excitement that grew upon 
 him in the silent waiting. He thought of 
 the train speeding toward them, miles away, 
 along this iron track, and it seemed for the 
 moment impossible, unreal, that he should 
 be there with a band of desperate men ready 
 to waylay it. Then it became terribly real, 
 and he shuddered involuntarily at the 
 thought of the deed he was about to witness, 
 even though he took no part in it. 
 
 Sorry you came ? asked Nelson at his 
 elbow. " You can t go back now, you 
 know." 
 
 "I don t want to go back," said Tom, 
 stoutly, " though I will confess that just at 
 present train robbing doesn t seem to me so 
 amusing a pursuit as it did." 
 
 " You ought to thank me, then, for takin 
 away your shootin irons." 
 
 "I do, indeed," said Tom. " It s well 
 enough to look on but I m pretty glad on 
 the whole I m not to bear a hand in it." 
 
 " Piety in your blood," observed the out 
 law, cheerfully. " I had some in mine, too, 
 to start with but I got rid of it handily. 
 The train s due in about ten minutes," he 
 added, after a little, looking at his watch. 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 227 
 
 " You 11 stay outside, of course. Remem 
 ber you re a prisoner, and under Jinks s 
 charge. If you try to make off he ll be 
 likely to shoot you." 
 
 " Well, I sha n t try," said Tom. " But 
 aren t there any signals I ought to know or 
 anything? " 
 
 "The danger signal is three rapid pistol 
 shots." 
 
 " But I ve no pistol." 
 
 " Three anything then three yells, three 
 whistles, three stones through a car window. 
 But we ve never had to use a danger signal 
 yet, and, besides, if you used it you d be 
 aidin and abettin us." 
 
 " That s my lookout. If the odious Tril 
 by were to give you away, I d be the first to 
 want to aid and abet you. 
 
 " Trilby s not so bad as you think." 
 
 "He s a thief without honor," declared 
 Torn Norrie, "and when it suits his con 
 venience to go back on you he ll do it." 
 
 " Do you see the headlight ? " asked Nel 
 son, suddenly. " Look sharp, boys ! " 
 
 He and Gully took their places, one on 
 each side of the track, while Jinks turned on 
 the lantern, which he had brought from the 
 bowl, and gave a signal to the approaching 
 
228 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 train, which he repeated at rapid intervals. 
 Tom, standing close beside him, saw that he 
 now wore a black mask, and looking quickly 
 towards the other two distinguished the same 
 sinister disguise, as they were shown up from 
 moment to moment by the small light in the 
 midst of the great darkness. It seemed hours 
 to him before the train could be heard, and 
 hours again before the first distant rumble 
 grew into the immense engulfing roar which 
 bore down upon them, filling their ears and 
 seeming to annihilate them. And those 
 hours, which were in truth but a few brief 
 moments, showed him how closely excite 
 ment is akin to fear. He trembled violently, 
 and his heart beat so quickly and so fast that 
 it almost suffocated him ; he felt that he 
 could hear its beating even above the great 
 brazen clamor of the locomotive, as it drew 
 up and stopped, with a heavy jar, just be 
 yond him, and stood there panting and 
 steaming like a live creature, its great heart 
 throbbing like his own. 
 
 Then in another instant this suffocating 
 excitement, which had been so like terror 
 that he felt a mere motion on the part of 
 one of the others would make him stampede 
 in an uncontrollable panic, left him com- 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 229 
 
 pletely. His mind became clear and alert, 
 and he saw everything that happened. Snide 
 had the engineer and fireman under full con- 
 trol. Button appeared to be in possession 
 of the express car, and Trilby followed the 
 conductor out of the smoker and stood on 
 the platform with him as the train drew up. 
 A moment later he had both revolvers 
 drawn, one held at the conductor s head and 
 the other pointed down the length of the car. 
 This seemed to indicate a clear field to the 
 outlaw and his gang. Gully leaped into the 
 express car, while Nelson, followed by Trilby, 
 went through the smoker. 
 
 Jinks moved on down the train on the out 
 side, with a revolver in each hand, firing 
 shots in at the windows and doors, killing no 
 one, but effectually scaring everybody. He 
 kept Tom with him, driving him under the 
 cars, or up over the platforms ahead of him, 
 as he crossed from side to side, emphasizing 
 all his orders with a very reckless and alarm 
 ing use of his firearms. The train was a 
 long one. Tom became conscious suddenly 
 of movements at the farther end. Beyond 
 the brightly lighted passenger coaches there 
 was a dark, shadowy mass like a freight car. 
 
 "Jinks," he said, suddenly, "there s a 
 
230 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 horse down there, coming out of that last 
 car." 
 
 Jinks swore a great oath of disbelief, but 
 a moment later was convinced. " By God ! 
 the sheriff and his posse ! he cried out, and 
 let off three quick shots from his revolver. 
 " For the horses," he said to Tom, " and 
 each man for himself. He rushed to tell 
 Snide what had happened, and then struck 
 out across the prairie, while Tom lingered a 
 moment to watch Snide ordering the engi 
 neer and fireman to start up the locomotive, 
 with threats of blowing their brains out if 
 they refused. He saw Button leap out of 
 one of the cars, and then in another mo 
 ment Nelson, farther down, and staying for 
 no more, put off like them at top speed for 
 the horses. He fell twice at full length, 
 and when he reached the bowl went head 
 long down the steep side, and was set on 
 his feet by Jinks, who, reaching the place 
 first, had unpicketed most of the horses. 
 The four of them were mounted in a mo 
 ment." 
 
 "You three ride along," said Nelson. 
 " Keep together and get out of the way as 
 fast as you can. I ll wait for the others." 
 
 The other two made off without more 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 231 
 
 ado, but Tom remained. " I d rather stay 
 with you/ he explained. 
 
 " All right," said the outlaw. " Keep 
 quiet. There were sounds above, and then 
 Gully s voice was distinguished in muttered 
 oaths as he slid down the incline. 
 
 "Snide and Bub behind you?" asked 
 Nelson. 
 
 "Reckon so," said Gully, bestriding his 
 horse, "and a lot of men and horses, 
 too!" 
 
 " They ll not find us in here or if they 
 do they ll break their necks," said Nelson. 
 You d better be off. I ll wait a bit longer. 
 The boys 11 have a close squeak of it if they 
 don t hurry." 
 
 Gully was off, and Snide appeared at the 
 same moment. Snide had seen nothing of 
 Trilby, and, suggesting that he might have 
 gone back on them, advised leaving his 
 horse picketed in the bowl and saving their 
 own skins while there was yet time. Nelson 
 agreed to this plan as the sound of many 
 galloping feet drew nearer and nearer, and 
 then the three set off at full speed, with 
 eight or ten horses in close pursuit behind. 
 They rode abreast in silence, while Tom 
 realized that Nelson, whose mare could easily 
 
232 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 distance the others, was holding her in to 
 keep with them. 
 
 "Their horses are d d fresh," said 
 
 Snide. "They ll gain on us soon, if they 
 ain t already." 
 
 "Then we ll all go to jail together," re 
 plied Nelson, cheerfully. 
 
 His good faith throughout, and this un 
 daunted spirit appealed to Tom powerfully. 
 He was fond of him, too he couldn t bear 
 the thought of his being caught and sent to 
 prison. An idea came to him, and hardly 
 weighing it, he gave it quick utterance. 
 
 " You two ride on," he said "I ll change 
 my course a little, keeping around to the 
 left, and ride gradually slower and slower, 
 but lead them as pretty a chase as I can. If 
 I can get away I will, but if I can t it will 
 only mean a short season of trouble for me, 
 while for you it might be twenty years hard 
 labor." 
 
 Nelson demurred strongly at first, but 
 Tom was in love with the idea and urged 
 it warmly. " You ve done me a good turn, 
 now let me do you one. It costs me only 
 a few days of confinement, or weeks at the 
 most, and it will all be more or less fun 
 for me. Come, there s no time to lose." 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 233 
 
 " He s a peach/ declared Snide. " Let s 
 give him his way, Cap he s got the sense 
 of it." 
 
 The outlaw yielded. "You re a good 
 sort," he said. "And mind, tell them the 
 straight story if they catch you, without 
 trying to shield me or Jack Potts. It s 
 the only way. And then trust in me to the 
 bitter end, for however sure they may be 
 that you re Tom Nelson, I ll never let you 
 go to prison in my place. Don t forget 
 that." 
 
 " I ll not," said Tom. " Good-by." 
 
 Folly was off into the darkness like a 
 shot, Snide s nag making a good second, 
 while Tom s poor, faithful beast, already do 
 ing his utmost, was left quickly behind. He 
 had good courage, however, and did not 
 lose heart at the desertion of his comrades, 
 but kept on resolutely. 
 
 "Good old fellow," said Tom. "You 
 do the best you can, don t you?" He 
 pulled the animal around all the time off the 
 course of the other fugitives, though much 
 against its will, and listening sharply behind 
 could distinguish no division of forces in 
 the pursuers. They were steadily gaining 
 on him, and it was only a question of brief 
 
234 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 time when they should be up with him. 
 But every minute was needed by those 
 ahead, so Tom kept on, demanding all the 
 speed his horse could give. Finally, when 
 the men behind were near enough to send 
 bullets whizzing about his ears, he reined in 
 his horse and let them come up with him. 
 
 "Tricked, by hell!" exclaimed one 
 voice. 
 
 " Where s the rest of the d d crew ? " 
 
 said another. 
 
 They were all about him now, and one 
 man threw the blinding rays of a dark 
 lantern in his face. "Anyhow, it s the 
 feller we wanted most," he cried out jubi 
 lantly, and Tom recognized the voice of the 
 gallant Mr. Cutler Keach. 
 
 "Ah! Good-evening, Mr. Keach," he 
 said, urbanely, holding out his hand. " I m 
 glad w r e re to have a chance to continue 
 that little conversation of ours." 
 
 " Good-evenin , Mr. Nelson," responded 
 Mr. Keach, somewhat taken aback. " But 
 it s Marshal Goslin that s wantin the first 
 hack at conversin with you. And I ll wait 
 until you get your handcuffs on before I 
 shake hands with you, if you don t mind." 
 
 Tom easily turned the laugh that greeted 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 235 
 
 this sally, by observing that if it seemed 
 more natural and homelike to Mr. Keach 
 under such circumstances, he was quite will 
 ing. 
 
 Then in his surprise at being taken by 
 anyone but the sheriff, he inquired for Mr. 
 Roray, and learned that that gentleman 
 having been out of town on business, the 
 city marshal of Aurora had jumped at the 
 chance to earn distinction for himself by 
 capturing the notorious gang of train rob 
 bers in his absence. 
 
 " The Terror 11 feel awful bad when he 
 gets back," said his informant. " I know 
 he wouldn t a missed this scrap for 
 nothin ." 
 
 The marshal, meanwhile, very much set 
 up in his own importance at having done it 
 all without the sheriff, was holding a con 
 sultation with his lieutenants, the upshot of 
 which seemed to be that it was too dark a 
 night to push on after the rest of the gang, 
 gone now beyond sight and sound. 
 
 " You re sure this is Nelson himself? " he 
 asked of Mr. Keach, who appeared to be his 
 chief adviser. 
 
 11 Let me make you quainted with Mr. 
 Nelson, Mr. Go-din ," said Mr. Keach, 
 
236 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 with mock ceremony. " What could be a 
 more agreeable task than to introduce a train 
 robber to the happy man what s caught 
 him?" 
 
 " Well, if you re Tom Nelson I m d d 
 
 glad to meet you," said Mr. Gosling. 
 
 "I m not Tom Nelson, unfortunately," 
 said Tom Norrie, "but I m none the less 
 pleased to meet you on that account." 
 
 Ho ! said Mr. Keach, contemptuous 
 ly. " Goin to try to prove an alibi, are 
 you ? Caught red-handed, and set up it 
 ain t me for a defence ! " 
 
 " Well, Nelson or not Nelson, he s all 
 we ve got," said the marshal, " and we d 
 better be a-gettin off home. Catchin him s 
 our business. We ain t the ones to decide 
 who he is." 
 
 Tom s hands and feet were securely tied, 
 and then, while one man led his jaded nag, 
 three others surrounded him as a body 
 guard. In this way the long and painful 
 ride was accomplished, so wearisome to the 
 already weary captive that he was glad in 
 deed to see his prison at last, just as the first 
 faint streaks of dawn began to lighten the 
 blackness of the night. 
 
 "See here, Mr. Keach," he said as the 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 237 
 
 ropes were cut and he was allowed to dis 
 mount. "I m not greatly stuck on this 
 nag, but he s a good old soul, and he ll be 
 pretty well done after this. Would you 
 take him along and have your brother look 
 after him? I ll see he s paid for his 
 trouble." 
 
 Mr. Keach, with a thrifty eye to business, 
 agreed at once, if he had the marshal s per 
 mission, and as Mr. Gosling was both sleepy 
 and complaisant after the success of his ex 
 ploit, the transaction was speedily arranged. 
 Tom stipulated among other things that the 
 poor Plunger should have a bed to his knees, 
 and slept the better himself on the hard 
 couch provided him by the State, for the 
 consciousness that the tired horse was well 
 cared for. 
 
 Tom Norrie, in the excitement of the 
 moment, keenly touched by the outlaw s 
 bravery and his faithfulness to his friends, 
 had felt that he was undertaking but a small 
 sacrifice on his behalf. The next day, or 
 rather only five hours later the same day, 
 when he was ruthlessly waked up to be 
 taken before the justice of the peace, and in 
 cidentally before the whole town, assembled 
 to a man in the court-house, and when no 
 
238 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 one, during the ceremonies that followed, 
 would believe a word he said on any sub 
 ject, and least of all his reiterated statement, 
 and, as he thought, proof, that he was not 
 Tom Nelson, the situation began to look to 
 him a little more serious. He was not re 
 quired to say anything, being informed so 
 officially by the justice, and advised pri 
 vately by the friendly sheriff, Aurora s cele 
 brated Terror, in whose charge he now 
 found himself, to keep his mouth shut 
 until he d seen his lawyer. But he had 
 notions of his own on the subject, and pre 
 ferred to tell his story fully. With a feel 
 ing half of mistrust, half of contempt for the 
 law, derived from several generations of 
 Quaker ancestry, he had made up his mind 
 to conduct his case himself, with no aid 
 from the legal profession. Telling the 
 truth, the plain and entire truth, seemed to 
 him all that was necessary, and it was sure 
 ly ridiculous to get a lawyer to help one do 
 that. But, to his surprise and grief, this 
 course of simple honesty was not attended 
 with the conspicuous success that he had an 
 ticipated. He was not immediately set 
 free, nor did the justice professionally un 
 bend, and congratulate him upon that noble 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 239 
 
 candor which was more powerful than any 
 legal guile to unlock the doors of his prison. 
 
 On the contrary, while all the spectators 
 were laughing, the justice preserved his own 
 dignity with some difficulty, and the legal 
 gentlemen present did not undertake to con 
 ceal how greatly entertained they were by 
 Mr. Nelson s tale of adventures. 
 
 " D d ingenious cuss," said the prose 
 cuting officer, in an audible aside to one of 
 the standers-by. " Say, wouldn t that yarn 
 take in a dime novel ? Trilby wouldn t be 
 in it" 
 
 The part of his narrative which seemed 
 specially to charm every one was the bold 
 attempt throughout to cast suspicion upon 
 the innocent Mr. Potts. 
 
 " Why, Jack Potts, he s been to the Pal 
 ace Hotel off and on two or three months," 
 said J. Cutler Keach, when he was at liberty 
 to speak his mind to the prisoner after the 
 examination, and while the officers in charge 
 of him were awaiting the orders of the 
 sheriff. " He s a mere lamb, he is, that 
 never lifted his finger to harm nobody. 
 There warn t any feller so hot on your trail 
 as he was, and he thought you was a villain 
 of the deepest dye. Guess he d think so 
 
240 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 more n ever now if he could hear the way 
 you re a-layin mud over him." 
 
 Here, in exasperation, Tom committed a 
 grave fault in tact. " Jack Potts is a longer- 
 headed gentleman than you ever dreamed 
 of," he said to Mr. Keach, a little con 
 temptuously. " Can t you see that that was 
 his cue ? that he was trying to wind you up 
 in your own conceit of your detective abil 
 ity, and was laughing at you in his sleeve 
 all the time ? 
 
 Maybe I can see that and maybe I can 
 see what you re a-drivin at, too," said Mr. 
 Keach, with a large and catholic wink which 
 embraced all present. As for Mr. Potts 
 he can tell his own story on the witness- 
 stand." 
 
 " A great lot you ll ever get him on any 
 witness-stand," said Tom, scornfully. 
 
 "Just you wait and see," retorted Mr. 
 Keach. 
 
 "He won t have to wait long either," 
 said Charley Shore. " Court sits on Mon 
 day, and the Grand Jury 11 go to work on 
 him right off." 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Keach, with a satisfied 
 air. " Justice certainly is a-goin to hustle 
 for once." 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 241 
 
 Returned under close guard to the jail, 
 bewildered by his inability to persuade his 
 accusers to believe the simple truth, and 
 with a sense of helplessness and anxiety 
 which he could not shake off, it was an in 
 expressible relief to Tom Norrie to behold 
 once more the friendly face of Jerroray. She 
 was standing in the front door of the jail, a 
 resplendent vision of flowered silk and white 
 lace, with a gauzy hat and a gauzy parasol, 
 a corsij bokay and a beaming smile, and 
 Tom s heart warmed to her more than ever. 
 
 " Say you re in a real bad fix, ain t you ? 
 Well, I ve got a pull, my dad bein sheriff, 
 and I ve come to sweeten your captivity, 
 like the girls do in stories. Now you men 
 can just hand him over to me," she an 
 nounced to the officers. "The Terror s 
 given you his orders, and what he says goes. 
 I m to be jailer whenever I like. I ve 
 promised Terence I won t let the prisoner 
 et away, and he knows my word s as good 
 as his own. We re goin to have Mrs. 
 Jenks s sittin room, and you can sit around 
 and watch in the entry and under all the win 
 dows if you want to, though there ain t no 
 need of it. Mr. Chance is a gentleman, and 
 he ain t agoin to get a lady into trouble 
 16 
 
242 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 by tryin to light out when he s under her 
 charge are you, Chance? " 
 
 Tom gave his word emphatically that he 
 should make no attempt whatever to get 
 away, both for Miss Roray s sake and his 
 own, for, being innocent, he wished to prove 
 it in open court. And upon this declaration, 
 supplementing her own previous ideas of his 
 integrity of character, Jerroray, as her first 
 act of authority, ordered his handcuffs taken 
 off. 
 
 The snug, cosey room of Mrs. Jenks was a 
 prison - cell to be dreamed of rather than 
 realized, and Tom passed there the greater 
 part of the next few days in the most agree 
 able custody that ever fell to the lot of cap 
 tive man. The energetic friendliness of his 
 jailer permitted no obstacle in the way of 
 the completest comfort possible within his 
 prison bounds. His bag and belongings ar 
 rived at once from the Palace Hotel, by the 
 hand of G. Washington Keach. His own* 
 honeydew restored to him, the rubber pouch 
 of which in his pocket had long been sadly 
 empty, Tom was at once a happier and more 
 placid man. With the full permission of 
 the gracious lady, and cheered by her genial 
 converse and informal manners, he smoked 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 243 
 
 the long June hours away. Roses were in 
 bloom beneath the windows, the sun shone 
 and the birds sang, and Jerroray was no less 
 entertaining than she was good to look at. 
 
 When they were comfortably settled that 
 first afternoon, quite to the young lady s lik 
 ing ; after she had watched Tom eat a good 
 dinner a much better dinner than he would 
 have got had she not interceded with Mrs. 
 Jenks before his return from the court 
 house; when with a satisfaction no less than 
 his own, she had seen him light his pipe, and 
 then made him lie down on Mrs. Jenks s 
 carpet-covered lounge, while she put all the 
 pillows she could find in behind him to soft 
 en the acerbities of that piece of furniture 
 she announced that she had a few remarks 
 to make. 
 
 "Tell me that I m to die to-morrow, if 
 you like," said Tom, in blissful accents. 
 "I m so comfortable that I don t care what 
 happens to-morrow." 
 
 " I do love to see folks comfortable," said 
 Jerroray. 
 
 " And you certainly know how to make 
 them so." 
 
 " It s the way I do to Terence when he s 
 fagged. An when I ve got him all tucked 
 
244 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 away on a sofy like you then I fill his 
 pipe and light it, and mix him a whiskey- 
 toddy, and I can tell you he just purrs like 
 a cat." 
 
 "I should think he would," said Tom, 
 in an injured tone. "You didn t mix me 
 any toddy." 
 
 " Well, I will if you want me to ; I can 
 do em awful good. I had a gentleman- 
 friend once was a bar-keep, and he taught 
 me lots of things. And then the sheriff 
 himself ain t any slouch on mixin drinks. 
 Guess he could give points to some perfes- 
 sionals." 
 
 The whiskey-toddy proved to be a very 
 choice mixture indeed, and if strong and a 
 great lot of it, Tom reflected that at least he 
 could spend the afternoon on its consump 
 tion. " You didn t make any for yourself," 
 he observed. "I ll divvy with you." 
 
 "No, thanks, I don t indulge. I m will- 
 in other folks should fuddle their brains 
 with the stuff, but I don t want any in 
 mine especially now when I propose to 
 give my great head to your case." 
 
 " Will you be counsel for the defence ? " 
 asked Tom, with a laugh. I m sure you d 
 get me off." 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 245 
 
 " Well, if you want my advice, Chance, 
 you ve got to tell me the facts all of em. 
 That s what I had to say to you. It ain t 
 pryin curiosity, and you re at liberty not to 
 bleat a word, an we ll just talk about other 
 things. But if we re goin to discuss your 
 situation at all, and try to get you out of 
 your mux, then you ve just got to sail in an 
 tell me the whole biz the truth and nothin 
 but the truth. That s all. You can take 
 your choice. An you needn t be afraid I ll 
 get mad if you don t tell me." 
 
 "But I want to tell you I d rather tell 
 you." 
 
 " Well, now, that s bang-up that s what 
 I like," declared the young lady with great 
 satisfaction. "To begin with then, what is 
 your name really ? 
 
 " It s to be a cross-examination, is it?" 
 said Tom. " Why should you think Chance 
 isn t my name? Do you, too, imagine I m 
 Tom Nelson ? 
 
 " Potts said you warn t and he talked 
 like he meant it." 
 
 " Oh, he told you that, did he? Well, I 
 can guess why it served his purpose." 
 
 "What do you mean? " 
 
 " He didn t want you to think me Tom 
 
246 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 Nelson for fear that would make you like me 
 better than you did him. 
 
 < Oh ! But you ain t Tom Nelson, 
 
 I m most sure." 
 
 " I wish the other people were as sure," 
 said Tom. "Our astute friend, Mr. Potts, 
 played his cards so well that they ll none of 
 them hear a word against him." 
 
 " Against him you don t mean " 
 
 Tom watched with enjoyment the light 
 beginning to dawn on Jerroray s face. 
 "Yes, I do," he said. "Hadn t you 
 guessed ? You re as stupid as I was." 
 
 " Oh, my ! " she said, with wonder, awe, 
 ecstasy, love, admiration and pride com 
 mingled in that very expressive ejaculation ; 
 and "Oh, my ! " she repeated after a mo 
 ment, as if no other form of speech could 
 at all convey her many and overwhelming 
 emotions. 
 
 " You seem to like the idea," said Tom. 
 
 " Like it ! " she exclaimed, with an inde 
 scribable wriggle and shake of her whole 
 person in the endeavor to express how much 
 she liked it. " Say, didn t I tell you he 
 was great? Didn t I say he was a peach ? 
 My ! He s just out o sight ! " 
 
 " You don t ask for any proof it seems 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 247 
 
 very easy for you to believe that he s Tom 
 Nelson." 
 
 " Course it is it s exactly like him. I 
 only wonder I didn t know it the minute 
 I laid eyes on him. Say, have you seen 
 him since the day you was up to our 
 house?" 
 
 " I ve spent the whole week with him." 
 
 " Oh, my ! Well, now just you tell me 
 
 all about him, every word he said and every 
 thing he did. 
 
 " But you re forgetting all about my case. 
 I was a fool not to pretend I was Tom Nel 
 son myself." 
 
 " Well, you couldn t have worked the 
 racket anyhow, if you d a-tried. And I m 
 just as much interested in your case as ever 
 only any infant could see that the straight 
 way out of it is through Nelson. So, just 
 you tell me all about him." 
 
 Thus adjured, Tom told the tale from be 
 ginning to end, not even omitting what Nel 
 son had said about retiring from his present 
 business, and adopting one more compatible 
 with matrimony. " But of course you d 
 never marry a train-robber," he observed, 
 carelessly. 
 
 "Wouldn t I? Just you wait till I m 
 
248 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 asked ! My! I m so glad he s the one after 
 all, and I can play him straight now." 
 
 Tom made inquiry as to the meaning of 
 this naive remark, and was greatly enter 
 tained with Jerroray s tale of her tantalizing 
 doubts and uncertainties now, however, 
 resolved so entirely to her mind." 
 
 " So you really did like me a little? " he 
 questioned. 
 
 11 Course I did, and I always will. And 
 you ve behaved just grand about it all. 
 Lots o fellers wouldn t have told me a 
 thing, but would just have humped for em- 
 selves without ever thinkin of my feelin s 
 or Nelson s. But you ve been just as square 
 as a feller could be, and I m your friend for 
 life. Shake." 
 
 This ceremony performed, Tom continued 
 his narrative up to the outlaw s final prom 
 ise to stand by him whate er befell, and get 
 him out of any and every difficulty he might 
 find himself in. 
 
 " He ll do it, too," said Jerroray. " That 
 settles all my worries. We needn t take any 
 trouble. He ll get you out of the ditch. 
 We can just loaf and have as good a time as 
 we like, and not fret ourselves." 
 
 When Tom told her finally, however, of 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 249 
 
 his examination of the morning, and the 
 anxieties which had harassed him since, she 
 made up her mind at once that he must have 
 as good a lawyer as could be procured. 
 
 " Of course, you ve got to have a law 
 yer," she said. " Tain t so much a ques 
 tion of tellin lies or tellin the truth, as how 
 you do whichever you do do. Lawyers 
 know how, and that s what you pay em for. 
 We want a good one, and we want him right 
 off. I ll go and find out who s the best man 
 can be got down to Bloomer though I ll 
 bet in advance they ll all say Bob Trout. 
 He s a daisy lawyer, he is, and I just admire 
 to hear him argue a case. If I was a jury I 
 couldn t ever help findin for him." 
 
 She consulted with her father, and with 
 the prosecuting attorney, set down what they 
 said about different legal lights, and brought 
 these data to Tom for consultation. 
 
 Their choice, Colonel " Bob " Trout, as 
 Jerroray had predicted, and one of the best- 
 known criminal lawyers in the State, arrived 
 the next day. He was tall, with a hawk 
 nose and piercing black eyes ; he wore a 
 very long-tailed frock coat and a silk hat ; 
 but as the hat was perched on the back of 
 his head and the coat never buttoned up, he 
 
250 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 failed of the elegance he aspired to. He 
 knew all about the train robberies, and took 
 it for granted from the start that Tom was 
 the man who had committed them. When 
 Tom finished his truthful tale of the ways 
 and means by which he had been brought to 
 his present pass, Colonel Trout said, briefly : 
 
 " Excellent story do very well in the 
 main for our defence, with some few altera 
 tions. Now tell me the exact facts. I nev 
 er take a case unless my client tells me the 
 truth." 
 
 In spite of Tom s protest that this was 
 what he had just done, and his stoutness 
 in holding to his story through the violent 
 cross-examination he was at once put to, 
 Colonel Trout seemed never quite to aban 
 don his belief in his client s guilt. This had 
 a depressing effect upon Tom in their con 
 stant association before the trial. He re 
 sented the little traps his counsel laid to catch 
 him, springing on him every now and then a 
 sharp and sudden question, designed to take 
 him unawares and make him betray himself. 
 
 And when the colonel learned of what he 
 called Tom s crazy folly in telling his whole 
 story without one reserve to the justice of 
 the peace, he became, in his grief and rage, 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 251 
 
 even more unpleasant to his client. His 
 feelings were almost too much for words, he 
 explained, by way of logical excuse for his 
 violent language, and Tom could not help 
 retorting that it would have been better if 
 they had been quite too much. 
 
 "There s no use talking about it," he 
 said, " the thing s done, and I m not sorry. 
 It seems to me we d better devote ourselves 
 to making the best of the situation as it is. 
 
 The chief necessity of the defence, of 
 course, was to prove alibis for Tom on the 
 dates of the first four train robberies. He 
 had been in the outlaw s camp at the time of 
 the fifth, and had admitted beyond recall his 
 presence at the sixth and last. But if they 
 could prove that he was in Lincoln, Nebraska, 
 when the first one occurred, down in Beaver 
 County at the time of the second, at Titus 
 City on the date of the third, and many miles 
 from Bud, on the Red Gulch road, on the 
 day of the fourth, arriving in Bud by train 
 a full hour and a half after the hold-up, the 
 case would be two-thirds won. Unluckily 
 Tom had found no congenial companions on 
 the Red Gulch train, and it was an even 
 chance that no one would remember him 
 well enough to be safe on cross-examination. 
 
252 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 Moreover, on laboriously counting back, 
 he was not himself certain whether he had 
 left Lincoln on the 6th or yth of May, and 
 he had stayed there with a very doubtful 
 travelling companion, at a hotel which was 
 practically a gambling joint of the worst de 
 scription ; so that even if willing " friends" 
 could be found to testify to his having been 
 there on the important date, they would not 
 be gentlemen calculated to make a good im 
 pression on a jury. On neither of the other 
 dates could he do much better, for he had 
 not been at hotels, and there would be 
 neither the registers, nor witnesses to testify 
 to payments of money, to give an air of au 
 thority to the evidence. At the earlier time 
 he was staying at the country seat of a gen 
 tleman of bibulous and poker-playing pro 
 clivities known to his friends as Tank." 
 Mr. Tank Fergusson had since, it seemed, 
 gone to prison on a charge of aggravated as 
 sault, having accidentally shot another gen 
 tleman, on an hilarious occasion when he was 
 " not himself," and was genially winding up 
 a pleasant evening by shooting in at people s 
 windows in a random and childlike manner. 
 But though he was somebody else while he 
 was drunk and did the shooting, he had to 
 
THE PROOF OF COURAGE 253 
 
 go to prison nevertheless in his own person, 
 and pay the penalty of too marked a taste for 
 masquerading. 
 
 The later date was that of the shooting 
 match at Titus City, and as Tom had distin 
 guished himself by standing second in the 
 score, there might be found various gentle 
 men, less fortunate, who would remember 
 the tenderfoot who beat them. His particu 
 lar chum on that day had been a rover and 
 soldier of fortune like himself. They had 
 come into Titus City by train, very early in 
 the morning after a long, hot journey, sleep 
 ing in a common car ; and had left it twenty- 
 four hours later by the same train, having 
 made a night of it in celebration of the match. 
 The chances were nine to ten that Billy 
 Buck, or Bucking Billy, as he preferred to 
 be called, could not now be found to testify 
 in favor of his pal pro tern. He had talked 
 of Tacoma and also of Phoenix as places he 
 yearned to visit, and he might equally well 
 be in Boston or New Orleans. 
 
 The outlook was dark indeed, but the col 
 onel, having brought up the money question, 
 received a good-sized retaining fee, and sat 
 isfied himself that he was safe on the rest 
 from a client of business connections so dis- 
 
254 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 tinguished as our hero s, despatched his 
 emissaries and telegrams in every direction ; 
 while Tom, relying on the outlaw far more 
 than on the law, and enjoying daily the vi 
 vacious conversation of Jerroray, did not 
 greatly trouble himself. 
 
 The Grand Jury, sitting on Monday at 
 the opening of Rising Sun s spring term of 
 court, found a true bill against the prisoner 
 for conspiring with John Doe and Richard 
 Roe and other evil-disposed persons to com 
 mit this series of train robberies against the 
 peace and dignity of the State, and espe 
 cially of Rising Sun County. 
 
 The prisoner was arraigned in court and 
 pleaded not guilty. The Judge then sug 
 gested that in view of the enormity of the 
 offences, their unusual extent, the expense 
 to the State of delay, and the desire of the 
 public for a speedy trial, it should occur as 
 soon as possible. With the consent both of 
 the prosecuting officer and of Colonel Trout, 
 the time was set for the following Thursday. 
 The Judge placed the bail at $ 10,000, but 
 Tom, very comfortable in jail and confident 
 of a speedy release, did not take the trouble 
 to procure it. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE LAW S COURSE 
 
 ON the morning of the trial the town bore 
 the aspect of a Fair Day, or the Fourth of 
 July. All Rising Sun and Creosote Coun 
 ties were there. They came with their .en 
 tire families, and brought with them copious 
 supplies of food for themselves and their live 
 stock. Some arrived the night before, but 
 most of them poured into the town that 
 morning, on foot, on horseback, in carts, on 
 bicycles, or by the trains. The nearest min 
 ing camps sent large contingents, and there 
 was even a crowd from Bloomer, with flash 
 ily dressed women and sporty looking men. 
 Everyone wanted to see Tom Nelson, the 
 celebrated outlaw. Though the court-house 
 could not contain one-tenth part of the peo 
 ple who crowded without it, they did not 
 cease to crowd, each one determined, for 
 his own part, to get in. The doors were 
 opened at half-past eight, and two minutes 
 
256 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 later the room was full, terribly, insuffera 
 bly full, with disappointed hundreds still 
 scrambling without. These had, however, 
 a measure of compensation. The happy 
 thought came to them to go up to the jail, 
 a quarter of a mile away, and await the pris 
 oner. Here they aroused great consterna 
 tion. There were so many of them, and 
 they were so boisterous and noisy, that the 
 authorities were alarmed. The mayor was 
 sent for, and began to read them the riot 
 act from the roof of the porch, when the 
 crowd set up a great howl of amusement. 
 
 " Oh, shut up your guff! " they cried. 
 " We don t want no riot act. We ain t 
 makin no row. All we want is Nelson." 
 
 Then they began to shout the prisoner s 
 name, with yells, cat-calls, cheers, and other 
 demonstrations which effectively drowned 
 the mayor s voice. Finding, however, that 
 they secured nothing by this method, they 
 finally selected a big miner for spokesman, 
 and he explained to the mayor and sheriff 
 that they meant no harm whatever to the 
 prisoner ; far, indeed, from havin thoughts 
 of lynchin him they d be more inclined, if 
 anything, to set him free he was such a 
 d d smart feller, and they couldn t help 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 257 
 
 takin pride in him as a product of their own 
 region they could beat the world on train 
 robbers if on nothin else. But they d come 
 now merely to escort him in honor to the 
 court-house, and they d solemnly promise 
 not to interfere with the course of justice. 
 Only if they didn t get a sight of Tom Nel 
 son, and that pretty d d quick, they d not 
 
 answer for any accidents that might occur. 
 
 Whereupon, with all speed, the prisoner 
 was produced, attended by the mayor, the 
 Terror, three or four deputies, and the entire 
 police force of the city of Aurora which 
 last august body consisted of the marshal, 
 Mr. Gosling, and three policemen. They 
 all bore arms, and Tom, with his handcuffs 
 on, moved in their midst. As he appeared 
 upon the porch, smiling and undaunted 
 for he had heard the speech and knew that 
 he had nothing to fear from a crowd so en 
 tirely in his favor a great shout went up. 
 Then the big miner proposed three cheers 
 for Tom Nelson, and they were given with 
 enthusiasm. Behind the miner, Tom caught 
 sight of another big man, with clean shaven 
 cheeks and chin, in bluish contrast to the 
 deep bronze of the rest of his countenance. 
 There was something familiar about him, 
 17 
 
258 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 and Tom turned quickly to look for him 
 again, but he was lost in the sea of faces. 
 The crowd fell a little apart as the prisoner 
 and his escort moved down from the porch, 
 received them into its bosom, surrounded 
 and engulfed them, and bore them on irre 
 sistibly, like the current of a great river. 
 The murmur of the many voices deepened 
 now and then to a louder roar, and again 
 grew less, as the waves of the sea crash upon 
 the sands, and draw back and crash again. 
 
 Borne along thus like a conqueror by the 
 surging movement of a great throng, of 
 whose movement he was the spring, and of 
 their thoughts the pivot, Tom felt a sense 
 of strong elation, a wish that he were indeed 
 Tom Nelson, a pride that at least he knew 
 the hero and had been his friend and com 
 rade. This spontaneous outburst in his fa 
 vor did not strike him as strange. Like all 
 success, it only increased his admiration for 
 the outlaw, and he longed to tell these men 
 around him, whose faces were so eagerly 
 scanning his face, that though he was not 
 the man they thought, yet he knew and liked 
 and admired him with all his heart. 
 
 Thus when they reached the court-house 
 and the crowd refused to let them enter until 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 259 
 
 Tom Nelson had made them a speech, Tom 
 Norrie was at no loss. 
 
 " Let me speak it s the only thing to 
 quiet them, and will do no harm," he said 
 to the attendant Terror at his side, who, 
 with a drawn revolver, had not relaxed 
 vigilance for a moment. 
 
 " All right, speak ahead, but don t blow 
 yourself empty," returned that official, hav 
 ing satisfied himself that the Judge had not 
 yet arrived. 
 
 And Tom, with admirable art, and an 
 eloquence most unexpected to himself, said 
 a great deal in very little, fanning the fire 
 of Tom Nelson s large popularity and creat 
 ing at the same time a small popularity of his 
 own. " Let the law take its course," he 
 wound up, " and if it goes wrong and I am 
 sent to prison, your outlaw will then take 
 his course. I trust to him and so must you. 
 If instead of law and order to-day it turns 
 out to be law and disorder, he will give the 
 law a black eye." (Wild cheers.) " He 
 knows I am innocent, and he is too brave a 
 man, and too honest, to let another suffer in 
 his place. They call him a thief, but if all 
 men who are not thieves were as brave and 
 as honest as he, the world would be a pleas- 
 
260 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 anter place to live in. Now, gentlemen, 
 this is all I have to say, and if you will give 
 three cheers for Tom Nelson, I will go and 
 stand my trial, trusting to you that all shall 
 pass off peaceably. 
 
 The three cheers for Tom Nelson were fol 
 lowed by three for the prisoner, whether 
 he s Nelson or some other feller," as one 
 man shouted ; and " a plucky gent anyhow," 
 declared a second. 
 
 The speech made the occasion seem more 
 like a Fourth of July than ever, and had 
 drawn the curious crowd out of the court 
 house to listen to it. Now, as the prisoner 
 was led into the building, a wild scramble 
 took place again for seats, and a new crowd, 
 comprising many of the so-called rioters, 
 occupied the place. 
 
 The trial began promptly at nine o clock. 
 Not much difficulty was had in securing an 
 unprejudiced jury, and then the case of the 
 State against Thomas Norrie, Jr., alias J. 
 Chance, alias Tom Nelson, was opened by 
 Mr. William Warble, the attorney-general, 
 who had come down especially from Boreal 
 to grace the occasion with his prestige and 
 importance, and render the conviction of the 
 notorious train robber as certain as possi 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 261 
 
 ble. Colonel Trout had previously expressed 
 to Tom his abundant contempt for this gen 
 tleman, who had been but recently elevated 
 to his position, and owed it entirely to po 
 litical services rather than to legal ability, 
 of which he had none. And besides, the 
 merest justice demanded that Bloomer should 
 have had the attorney-generalship instead of 
 such a mere village as Boreal. 
 
 " Warble s a fat fool a complacent, tow- 
 headed chump," said the colonel, superior 
 in the consciousness of his own tall, brunette 
 beauty. "We re lucky that his conceit 
 brings him down here, for if it had been left 
 to the county prosecutor, he d have made 
 something of the case. Warble s so stuck on 
 himself that he needs a searchlight to see 
 anything else." 
 
 And in truth, in spite of the great dignity 
 of the attorney-general, and his very impor 
 tant manner, the case he outlined seemed to 
 Tom by no means a strong one. It con 
 sisted chiefly in the facts that the prisoner 
 was caught on the night of the last hold-up, 
 not five miles from the scene thereof, riding 
 away in the dark on a rather slow horse, 
 while there was some evidence also to indi 
 cate that he had not been absent on the oc- 
 
262 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 casions of the five earlier robberies. Mr. 
 Warble explained elaborately that the State 
 had no wish to convict an innocent man, and 
 if the prisoner were innocent, as he claimed, 
 he (Warble) should greatly prefer to see him 
 go free. The State only wished to see justice 
 done, and the guilty alone punished for their 
 misdeeds. He was there in the service of 
 the State to put the jury in the possession of 
 the plain, truthful facts of the case, as clearly 
 as was in his power ; and then from these 
 facts, kept ungarbled by the sophistry and 
 misrepresentations of the defence, the jury 
 were to decide whether the prisoner were 
 guilty or not guilty. They knew well how 
 serious and awful a thing it was to send a 
 man and a young man to state-prison, and 
 they would not dream of doing it unless the 
 evidence were so strong against him as to 
 render any other course impossible which, 
 however, the prosecution would shortly show 
 them to be the case. 
 
 "The defence will try to prove," said 
 Mr. Warble, < that the prisoner is really 
 Mr. Thomas Norrie, Jr., who disappeared 
 from his home in one of the great cities of 
 the Eastern seaboard, on the 25th of April, 
 1895, and has not been heard of since. 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 263 
 
 They may prove it or not prove it it is 
 immaterial to us. You will observe that the 
 date of his disappearance is just ten days be 
 fore the first train robbery, and are aware 
 that we are not half that time distant from 
 New York. The prisoner, when at honiCj 
 may be as many gentlemen, and as many 
 kinds of gentlemen as he pleases. Our busi 
 ness is to find out whether he is Tom Nelson 
 or not, and if he is Tom Nelson he must 
 meet his just deserts, no matter how many 
 seemingly innocent persons he has been be 
 fore or may contemplate being hereafter. 
 To show, in short, how little the State cares 
 about his name or record outside of her 
 boundaries he was named in the indictment 
 Thomas Norrie, Jr." 
 
 As one of the chief points on which Tom s 
 counsel had relied for a successful defence 
 was the, to him, very impressive fact that 
 his client was a partner in the wealthy and 
 widely known manufacturing firm of Norrie, 
 Trumbull & Co., he was a little disconcert 
 ed by Mr. Warble s willingness to admit it. 
 But this was the only thing in the address 
 which really disturbed the colonel at all. 
 
 Nor did the evidence at first seem partic 
 ularly damaging, relating as it did entirely 
 
264 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 to the last hold-up, as if Mr. Warble meant 
 that to be his chief point of attack. The 
 earliest witnesses, most of them passengers 
 on the train that night, stated, one after an 
 other, that although they could not see the 
 robber s face for his mask, Tom resembled 
 him in every particular so far as they had 
 been able to see him, being of the same 
 height and build, having the same color of 
 hair, the same general look and manner of 
 a gentleman, and above all the same voice. 
 As each fresh witness was introduced a screen 
 was placed before Tom and five other men 
 who sat with him, and each man or woman 
 listening to the six voices behind the screen, 
 was required to identify that of the train 
 robber. Colonel Trout objected violently 
 when this scheme was first proposed, bade 
 Tom not to speak a word, and proclaimed 
 loudly his inalienable right not to be com 
 pelled to incriminate himself. Tom held a 
 brief, whispered consultation with his coun 
 sel, however, whereupon the colonel arose 
 all smiles and urbanity, and said that his 
 client was so confident that his innocence 
 would win the day in the end, that he was 
 willing to submit to that or any other test, 
 although perfectly aware, from his own 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 265 
 
 knowledge of the train robber, as would be 
 brought out in the case for the defence, that 
 their voices were surprisingly alike. Where 
 upon the witnesses for the prosecution, one 
 by one pitched on Tom s voice the moment 
 he spoke, with a unanimity which had a 
 visible effect upon the jury, but which Col 
 onel Trout later on gallantly attempted to 
 turn into evidence favorable to the defence. 
 But if the case for the prosecution in the 
 hands of Mr. Warble began like a modest 
 and unimportant brook, it swelled through 
 the morning into a great and mighty river. 
 Little bit by little bit Tom s spirits ebbed 
 before the great array of evidence prepared 
 by the county prosecutor and brought in by 
 the attorney-general, to prove the seemingly 
 modest propositions of his address. Things 
 that he had quite forgotten or overlooked, 
 mere accidents of ill-luck, were brought up 
 and piled on the great total of circumstan 
 tial evidence, until as the hours went by the 
 prisoner saw that the case of the State against 
 him was one that could scarcely be broken. 
 From the sixth train robbery the attorney - 
 general went back to the others, and brought 
 out rapidly, by means of many witnesses, the 
 story of the first four. Every witness who 
 
266 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 had been in a hold-up testified to the pris 
 oner s striking resemblance in voice and gen 
 eral appearance to the train robber. 
 
 His arrival in Bud on the evening of the 
 fourth hold-up was certified to by Mr. Au 
 gustus B. Dicker, clerk and bar-tender of 
 the Empire Hotel at Bud ; Mr. Job Swin- 
 ney and others, habitues of that hostelry ; 
 and Mr. Edward P. Bedloe, Mr. Charles S. 
 Shore, and other gentlemen from Aurora, 
 temporarily staying there on the occasion 
 of Bud s great ball. It was shown that the 
 hold-up occurred some time after dark, about 
 a mile and a half outside of Bud, and that 
 the prisoner, giving his name as Chance, 
 and his residence as " Burr Oak, Nebraska," 
 had turned up at the Empire Hotel a couple 
 of hours or so later, within fifteen minutes 
 of the arrival of the evening train on the 
 Red Gulch Road, by which he stated that 
 he had come. Every one had noticed from 
 the first that he was a suspicious-looking in 
 dividual. He had evinced an enormous in 
 terest in Tom Nelson and all his perform 
 ances, and would in fact talk of little or 
 nothing else, though he professed that he had 
 never even heard of the train robberies 
 before that night. 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 267 
 
 Mr. Swinney, whose voluble tongue re 
 tailed these latter facts before Colonel Trout 
 could stop him, was anxious to tell also all 
 his suspicions about Mr. Chance, and all his 
 other thoughts and emotions before or since, 
 but was finally suppressed by Colonel Trout s 
 animated objections. 
 
 The chambermaid of the Empire Hotel re 
 ported that she had thought Mr. Chance a 
 little out of the ordinary, and had hence in 
 vestigated the contents of his valise, and ob 
 served with interest all the pretty red T. 
 N. s on his underclothing and the white ones 
 on his handkerchiefs. She, too, went on 
 talking, and her course could not be ar 
 rested until she had brought out, to the de 
 light of the crowd, the interesting and sus 
 picious fact that, instead of sleeping in the 
 usual nightshirt, or even the underwear he 
 had worn by day, Mr. Chance went to bed 
 in a coat and trousers of thin pink and white 
 silk, fastened by a sort of small frog "aw 
 ful pretty," said the chambermaid "nice 
 enough for a bride." 
 
 Mr. Warble pointed out later to the jury 
 the effete luxury and depravity indicated 
 by such unmanly, such essentially feminine, 
 nocturnal apparel as this. "What could 
 
268 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 you expect of such a man but that he would 
 be a low criminal and a highway robber ? 
 he inquired, indignantly. "The British 
 aristocracy, gentlemen, those shameless dukes 
 and earls with whose shocking ways of cor 
 ruption and sin you are doubtless all famil 
 iar, probably wear these befrilled and fur- 
 belowed costumes every night of their lives. 
 If we are to keep our own great country in 
 its present pure and unspotted innocence we 
 must not tolerate these hateful foreign cus 
 toms we must exterminate them, gentle 
 men, root and branch ; that is to say, coat 
 and pants, and cling to the simplicity of the 
 republican nightshirt. The great Nordau 
 himself would surely agree with me that such 
 garments as these are but another sign of that 
 Fin der Sickle degeneracy that leads inevi 
 tably to common thieving, gentlemen I re 
 peat it, common thieving." 
 
 Colonel Trout, in his own speech, retorted 
 upon Mr. Warble here with crushing scorn. 
 These articles of wearing apparel, which that 
 distinguished gentleman had apparently never 
 heard of before, were just ordinary pajamas, 
 made and worn in America in large quanti 
 ties, and no more foreign than Plymouth 
 Rock pants. If the dukes and earls wore 
 them, so also did Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 269 
 
 Gladstone, and, nearer at home, such great 
 men as President Cleveland and ex-President 
 Harrison, even T. B. Reed and Major Mc- 
 Kinley, and probably all the other Presiden 
 tial candidates of 1896 in short, the Four 
 Hundred everywhere, but train robbers no 
 where. The singular ignorance of society 
 customs in the mind of the eminent counsel 
 for the prosecution indicated his lifelong 
 residence in the backwoods hamlet of Boreal. 
 Pajamas in Bloomer were as thick as peas, 
 and in short there was no better argument 
 in favor of Mr. Nome s entire innocence 
 than the fact that he wore these highly cul 
 tivated and even reserved yes reserved 
 garments. Colonel Trout had the honor to 
 belong to the Browning Society of Bloomer, 
 a club in which were represented all the 
 wealth and fashion of that eminently mod 
 ern city, and at the next meeting he should 
 himself take occasion to suggest that all its 
 members who had not already done so should 
 at once adopt the wearing of pink and white 
 silk pajamas, as a badge, as it were, of cult 
 ure, refinement, and style." 
 
 Mr. Warble declared hotly that he should 
 never give his vote for any Presidential 
 candidate who wore this lewd and foreign 
 
270 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 night attire, and he hoped that all true 
 Americans would follow his lead ; and as for 
 Bloomer s Browning Society, like all other 
 such societies throughout the length and 
 breadth of the United States, the men were 
 all chumps and the women all frumps. 
 
 But these little amenities did not occur till 
 the final summing up, and in carrying the 
 pajama episode through to the end we are 
 moved only by a desire to clear out of the 
 way all such distracting minor incidents, 
 that the tragic march of the main events 
 may move on undisturbed. 
 
 Tom Norrie s speeches and actions at the 
 ball were brought out one by one with a 
 fatal significance that appalled him. The 
 evidence of the revengeful Mr. Charley 
 Shore was particularly damaging, but Col 
 onel Trout turned it neatly by his method 
 of cross-examination. 
 
 Q. You were engaged to Miss Geraldine 
 Roray up to the night of the fourth hold 
 up ? 
 
 A. (Sulkily.) "Yes." 
 
 Q. You quarrelled on the train in regard 
 to Miss Roray s way of talking to the train 
 robber ? 
 
 A. I suppose you d say quarrel. 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 271 
 
 Q. Then she met the prisoner, Mr. 
 Chance, at the ball ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. And seemed much taken with him ? 
 
 A. He was taken with her. 
 
 Q. She danced with him ten times ? 
 
 A. I don t remember how many times. 
 
 Q. But she only danced with you once ? 
 
 A. That s all. 
 
 Q. And, as we may say, gave you the 
 mitten the next morning? 
 
 A. (Sulkily.) Yes. 
 
 Q. And it was not until she ceased to al 
 low you to bask in the sunshine of her eyes 
 that you began to suspect that Mr. Chance 
 was the train robber, and to act on that sus 
 picion ? 
 
 A. (Hedging.) Well 
 
 Q. Answer directly, Mr. Shore. Did it 
 enter your head that the prisoner was the 
 train robber before the lady bounced you? 
 Yes or No. 
 
 A. No. 
 
 " That will do, that will do," said Col 
 onel Trout. " That s all I want of you." 
 
 The other young men he cross-examined 
 with similar tact and sharpness to their own 
 discomfiture, to the delight of the audience, 
 
272 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 and with some effect upon the jury. Mr. 
 Cutler Keach was, however, less tractable. 
 Both on examination and cross-examination 
 he made many strong points for the prose 
 cution, and turned the laugh cleverly upon 
 Colonel Trout, though he was never able to 
 disturb that gentleman s coolness and ease. 
 
 Tom looked to Jerroray s evidence to cor 
 rect, if anything could, all that was against 
 him, and turn the tide once more in his 
 favor. Colonel Trout had been greatly sur 
 prised that with her well-known predilec 
 tions she should be called as a witness for 
 the prosecution. 
 
 " Warble ll get left when he tackles her. 
 He don t know women," said the colonel, 
 with a superior air of knowing himself all 
 there was to know. 
 
 And Jerroray had just sent him a little 
 note by her faithful slave and father, the 
 sheriff. " Warble s had his innings," she 
 wrote, "and his side s made a big score, 
 with lots of three-base hits and home runs, 
 I admit. But we aren t beaten yet. I m 
 coming to the bat pretty quick myself, and 
 I m onto the fat man s curves. You can bet 
 I m not going to fan the air." 
 
 Thinking of this encouraging prospect, 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 273 
 
 amused at the way the young lady had mixed 
 the analogies of the national game and law 
 suits in her mind, and with his eyes wander 
 ing aimlessly over the court - room, Tom 
 caught sight suddenly of the same face he 
 had noticed in the crowd before the jail. It 
 was familiar, yet not familiar, and puzzled 
 him, as he found it impossible to recall 
 where or when he had seen it before. But 
 just then a new witness was called, and he 
 turned quickly to see Jerroray herself being 
 escorted to the stand. She looked more 
 brilliantly handsome than ever, in one of 
 her most stunning costumes, with the widest 
 white sailor-collar that could be imagined 
 extending out over navy blue sleeves that 
 were wider still. A murmur of admiration 
 went through the crowded court-room, but 
 she looked only at Tom, with a smile of 
 friendliness and confident serenity. 
 
 Colonel Trout, unpleasantly surprised at 
 his scorned rival s success thus far in the 
 case, and, wishing, as he explained to Tom, 
 to "rattle" him, remarked here in an un 
 dertone, quite audible to the jury, that it 
 was a shame to call so innocent and lovely 
 a young lady upon any witness-stand. 
 
 Mr. Warble, overhearing him as he in- 
 18 
 
274 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 tended, became heated and indignant at 
 once, and retorted aloud that reluctant as 
 he was to bring so estimable and superior a 
 young woman into the case, he had been 
 forced to it by the inconsiderate and ungen- 
 tlemanly behavior of the prisoner, the client 
 of his honorable friend. This cowardly 
 villain had so forced himself upon the so 
 ciety of Sheriff Roray s beautiful daughter, 
 and entirely against the wishes of her dis 
 creet and maidenly modesty, that she unfor 
 tunately knew things which no other human 
 being could tell them, and it was only on 
 this account that he had reluctantly done 
 his duty and called her to the service of the 
 State. No more entirely admirable young 
 lady ever lived than Miss Geraldine Roray, 
 and the dastardly manner in which her name 
 had been dragged into the case by the un 
 natural blackguard 
 
 " Come, come, Warble," interrupted 
 Colonel Trout, sarcastically, " this may be a 
 good enough way to manage the cases before 
 a justice that you ve been accustomed to, 
 but it ain t the way we try jury cases." 
 
 And the Court, having listened up to this 
 point with an impartial smile, now suggested 
 to the attorney-general that he had said all 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 275 
 
 that was necessary to say, and might pro 
 ceed with the examination of the witness. 
 
 "But before he starts up," remarked Jer- 
 roray, pleasantly, to the Judge, I would 
 like to observe in my own behalf that Chance 
 is one of my most intimate gentlemen-friends 
 and not a villain, or a coward, or a black 
 guard, or any other of the names that Gen 
 eral Warble just called him, and he never 
 forced himself on my society or dragged me 
 into this case, but I would have come into it 
 anyway of my own accord, for I would like 
 to prove, what I know to be true, that he s 
 no more a train robber than I am." She 
 got this off so quickly, raising her voice 
 louder and louder as Mr. Warble began to 
 object, that the Court hadn t time to stop 
 her, and the audience broke into cheers as 
 she finished. 
 
 " The next man that raises his voice in 
 this court-room will be instantly ejected," 
 said the Judge severely when the noise sub 
 sided. "And witnesses that display con 
 tempt of court will be dealt with according 
 to their deserts." 
 
 " Oh, now, Judge, come off the bench," 
 said Jerroray, with a grin. "You know I 
 didn t mean contempt of court, and you and 
 
276 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 I are good chums anyhow, and I want to 
 work this racket to suit you just as near as 
 
 I can. But it ain t fair, now you know it 
 ain t, to let Warble blacken the prisoner s 
 character, and if you let him do that you ll 
 have to let me stand up for him, else I ll 
 never mix you another toddy and you know 
 you like my toddies. 
 
 The crowd laughed irrepressibly at this, 
 and a genial smile overspread the august 
 countenance of the Court. 
 
 "That s very true, Geraldine," he said, 
 
 II and I also like your conversation. It s 
 much more entertaining than that of our dis 
 tinguished friend the attorney-general but 
 suppose you give him a chance now ? " 
 
 "All right," said Jerroray. "That s 
 square. Fire away, General Warble." 
 
 Mr. Warble looked as if he would like to 
 commit the whole court for contempt of Mr. 
 Warble. His usually bland eye was flashing, 
 and he meant business when he began to 
 examine the sheriff s popular daughter. He 
 had apparently been well primed by the vin 
 dictive Charley Shore, and he knew exactly 
 what questions to ask. He brought out at 
 once the facts that Jerroray was on the train 
 the night of the fourth hold-up, had been 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 277 
 
 obliged to part with all her jewelry, and had 
 then gone on to the ball at Bud. Her con 
 versation with the train robber was repeated 
 in full, and with Mr. Warble s artful little 
 touches would have indicated to any unpre 
 judiced listener that Tom Nelson s fancy had 
 been decidedly caught by Miss Geraldine 
 Roray, and that his advice to her not to 
 marry Mr. Shore might easily be construed 
 to indicate that he had his eye on the succes 
 sion. Mr. Warble pinned the young lady 
 down to estimating exactly that it was above 
 an hour and a half, but less than two hours, 
 after the hold-up when the prisoner appeared 
 in the ball-room and was immediately brought 
 to be introduced to her. He made her re 
 peat their conversation, Tom s expressions 
 of admiration for the train robber, his con 
 doning of the enormi.ty of his crimes, his 
 statement that he would like to join Mr. 
 Nelson s gang, his wager that he would bring 
 her back her diamonds. 
 
 " The prisoner reminded you strongly of 
 the train robber ? 
 
 " No, he didn t," said Jerroray, defiantly, 
 and Mr. Warble looked surprised and pained. 
 
 "Yet you said so later to several per 
 sons?" 
 
278 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 "Well, that s straight, ain t it? When 
 I said so he did, of course, but that ain t 
 sayin he did before, or does now." 
 
 "Ah, I see," observed Mr. Warble. 
 " Perhaps it would be more correct to say 
 that he struck you as familiar when you first 
 saw him. Did he ? " 
 
 "Oh, kind of." 
 
 " He paid you very marked attention dur 
 ing the evening ? 
 
 "Well, you ve heard how mad it made 
 Charley Shore and the other fellers, haven t 
 you ? (General laugh . ) 
 
 " And you constantly had this feeling of 
 having seen him before somewhere ? " 
 
 "I reckon so." 
 
 " How long was it until you decided that 
 he reminded you of the train robber ? 
 
 " Next morning Mr. Potts " 
 
 "You have answered my question," said 
 Mr. Warble, interrupting her quickly. Now 
 tell me if you were not very much struck 
 with the resemblance as soon as you thought 
 of it?" 
 
 " I don t know as you d say very much 
 struck," said Jerroray, indignant at not being 
 allowed to say that Mr. Potts first suggested 
 it to her. 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 279 
 
 " Come, come, Miss Roray. Were you 
 not confident later that he was himself the 
 train robber ? " 
 
 "Well, everybody else seemed to think 
 so." 
 
 "And it seemed to you perfectly pos 
 sible?" 
 
 " Oh, of course, anything s possible." 
 
 " Answer the question directly. Were 
 you not sure at one time that the prisoner 
 was actually the train robber ? 
 
 " Well, yes. But I didn t think so long 
 not more n two or three hours Jack 
 Potts " 
 
 " Confine your answers to the questions 
 asked, if you please," said Mr. Warble, se 
 verely. 
 
 Then to Tom s great surprise and that of 
 his counsel, the attorney -general brought 
 out the part Jack Potts had played in his 
 escape, how he had brought the horse, told 
 the prisoner of his danger, started him off on 
 the mare, stayed and talked ten minutes, 
 then followed him on horseback and re 
 turned of course without him, while the 
 sheriff and his posse were still reconnoitring 
 about the Roray mansion. All the crush 
 ing facts about Jack Potts which they had 
 
280 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 hoped to elucidate on cross-examination Mr. 
 Warble brought out as triumphantly as if 
 they constituted his most important evi 
 dence ; then bowed politely to Colonel Trout 
 and said, with the conscious flush of vic 
 tory : 
 
 " The witness is in your hands." 
 
 Tom marvelled that the colonel, rising 
 promptly to his feet, looked no less triumph 
 ant than the attorney -general. 
 
 " When the proper time comes," said 
 Colonel Trout, " I shall have a great many 
 questions to ask Miss Roray, as one of the 
 chief witnesses for the defence. Now I shall 
 be content with but two or three. Miss 
 Roray, I want you to tell me who first sug 
 gested to you the idea that the prisoner re 
 sembled the train robber ? 
 
 " Jack Potts," said Jerroray, promptly. 
 
 "Exactly," said the colonel, satisfied 
 with the sensation produced by this state 
 ment. " And when was this? " 
 
 " On the train, the day after the hold-up 
 and the ball." 
 
 "And did the alleged Mr. Potts convey 
 the same impression to other occupants of 
 your car ? 
 
 "I should just smile. He stirred every- 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 281 
 
 body all up about it, a-lookin and a-smilin 
 and just hintin things." 
 
 " That will do. That s all I want now," 
 said the colonel. 
 
 Mr. Warble, however, rose to a fresh attack 
 with undiminished alacrity. " I should like 
 to introduce the evidence of Mr. Potts him 
 self just here," he said, " but he cannot ar 
 rive till the noon train. We will proceed 
 to the fifth train robbery, which took place 
 three days after Mr. Nelson s escape from 
 Aurora. We will have the screen placed be 
 fore Mr. Nelson I beg pardon, Mr. Chance 
 or should I say Mr. Norrie ? " he said 
 with great politeness. " The screen, if you 
 please, as we desire each witness to identify 
 the prisoner first by his voice. 
 
 Tom had grown accustomed to the mo 
 notony of the process, and amused himself 
 by noticing the way in which the witnesses 
 themselves spoke, and wondering if he could 
 identify them if he ever had a chance. 
 Three witnesses, two men and a woman, 
 picked him out unerringly by his speech and 
 told their tales. A fourth was brought in, 
 a woman with a cultivated voice at the 
 tones of which Tom Norrie s heart stood 
 still. It was a voice he could have iden- 
 
282 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 tified anywhere, at the ends of the world, 
 after a hundred years, a voice that for all 
 his fancied attraction to the friendly and de 
 lightful Jerroray was the sweetest thing in the 
 world to him, and would ever be. The wit 
 ness had been in the last hold-up, she said, 
 and had lost all her jewels, which she in 
 variably kept with her in a small bag, and 
 $200 in money. Tom s heart grew cold at 
 the fatality of it. She had come all that 
 way to convict him her evidence would 
 be fatal. 
 
 " You remember the robber s voice well ? 
 said Mr. Warble. 
 "Perfectly." 
 
 " Had you any special reason for noticing 
 and remembering it ? " 
 
 " I had it reminded me of the voice of 
 a friend." 
 
 "You do not think it could have been 
 your friend ? 
 
 "Oh, no, indeed," with a little laugh. 
 " That would be quite impossible. But the 
 likeness was so marked that I am sure I should 
 know his voice in a moment if I heard it 
 
 again." 
 
 Tom sat at the beginning of a row of 
 five. Mr. Warble held up four ringers, and 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 283 
 
 the fourth man spoke the formula agreed 
 on. 
 
 " That is not the voice," said the witness, 
 in deep, serious tones that thrilled Tom 
 through and through. 
 
 Mr. Warble held up three fingers and the 
 third man spoke. 
 
 "No," said the witness; "that is not 
 it." 
 
 Mr. Warble held up one finger, and with 
 a heart beating like a trip-hammer Tom ut 
 tered the brief words. 
 
 The witness gave a cry. " That is it," 
 she said. "I should know the voice any 
 where. 
 
 " Now," said Mr. Warble, affably, "tell 
 us which of the five men resembles most 
 your memory of the train robber. Officer, 
 remove the screen." 
 
 The officer removed the screen and Tom 
 and Janet Trumbull found themselves face 
 to face. 
 
 She gave one wild scream. " Oh, Tom 
 Tom I " she cried. " It isn t you it can t 
 be you ! and sank back on a chair, cover 
 ing her face with her hands. Jerroray was 
 sitting close by and sprang to her aid. A 
 tremor of excitement went through the court- 
 
284 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 room. Tom was pale as death and trembling, 
 and every one looked from her to him and 
 from him to her. 
 
 Mr. Warble seemed no less surprised than 
 every one else by what had happened, but 
 as soon as Janet had somewhat recovered 
 herself he resumed his examination. " You 
 had known the prisoner before? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes/ she answered, faintly. 
 
 " He was the friend you spoke of of 
 whose voice you were reminded by the train 
 robber s? " 
 
 " Oh, don t ask me!" she cried. " I 
 can t tell you I can t ! " 
 
 "The law requires you to tell me," said 
 Mr. Warble. 
 
 "Shame shame! " cried some one in 
 the crowd. 
 
 " Put that man out ! " shouted the Judge, 
 angrily. " Let the examination proceed." 
 
 Confused with the shock, frightened by 
 the publicity of the situation, and overcome 
 with her emotions, Janet perforce answered 
 the questions of Mr. Warble, denying in toto 
 that Tom had robbed her, but admitting that 
 he was the friend she had referred to, whose 
 voice was like the voice of the train robber ; 
 that she had known him for several years, 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 285 
 
 that he was her father s partner in business, 
 that she had known him especially well for 
 the last year or two yes, that she had been 
 engaged to him, but no longer was ; that this 
 engagement had been broken seven weeks 
 previously, the day before his disappearance ; 
 that she had not seen or heard anything of 
 him since j that she had been greatly worried 
 yes, that she couldn t but feel responsible 
 for anything that might happen to him, since 
 he had gone off so suddenly after what she 
 had said to him, and she was afraid, from the 
 nature of their talk, that he would get into 
 dangers, perhaps very great dangers, and 
 that she had hoped in coming West herself 
 that she might possibly see him and avert 
 these dangers and oh, dear ! it was too 
 awful she couldn t bear it ! 
 
 She nearly broke down at this point, and 
 Mr. Warble gave her the opportunity to re 
 cover herself before going on. 
 
 1 You are sure, you say, that the prisoner 
 was not the train robber, in spite of the 
 great resemblance of the voices ? 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "You are positive it was some other 
 man?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
286 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Young lady/ said Mr. Warble, severely, 
 " you perhaps forget that you are speaking 
 under oath. This is no matter to be re 
 garded lightly. Are you ready to swear that 
 the prisoner could not have been the man 
 who held up your train ? 
 
 " I object to this needless questioning," 
 said Colonel Trout. " The witness is aware 
 that she is speaking under oath, and has 
 made her statements accordingly. And I 
 also object, your Honor, to my honorable 
 friend s cross-examination of his own witness 
 in this unseemly and irregular manner." 
 
 His Honor, however, upheld the attorney- 
 general, stating that in view of the evident 
 reluctance of the witness he should allow 
 him to put his questions in any form he 
 pleased ; and again Mr. Warble asked Janet 
 if she were ready to swear to her last state 
 ment. 
 
 " I I am sure he wasn t the train rob 
 ber." 
 
 " But will you swear it ? in a loud tone 
 and a severe manner. 
 
 " I know that he couldn t have been." 
 
 " But will you swear it? " Mr. Warble 
 spoke still louder and looked more se 
 vere. 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 287 
 
 " It was really impossible, you see." 
 
 "But will you swear it?" Mr. Warble 
 roared the question this time, and his aspect 
 was truly terrible. 
 
 "I I should rather not swear it," said 
 Janet, falteringly. " I know he wasn t the 
 train robber, but I don t like to swear 
 things." 
 
 " Oh, very well, very well," said Mr. 
 Warble, having made his point. " The 
 actual robber was masked, you say, and you 
 could not see his face at all ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Was his figure and general appearance 
 unlike the prisoner s ? " 
 
 "Perhaps yes." 
 
 1 If the prisoner were masked are you sure 
 you would know him ? 
 
 why I don t know." 
 
 Was the robber dressed as the prisoner 
 is now ? 
 
 " I don t remember exactly." 
 
 "Has the prisoner ever worn just such 
 clothes when you have seen him before ? 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Could you swear that the clothes he has 
 on now were not the ones worn by the train 
 robber?" 
 
288 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 "No-o." 
 
 " Can you, in fact, mention any one 
 thing that makes it possible for you to show 
 that the prisoner at the bar was not the man 
 who held you up ? " 
 
 This was the last straw. Janet could 
 bear no more. She looked wildly at Tom, 
 at the Judge, the jury, about the crowded 
 court-room, once more at Mr. Warble and 
 then burst into tears. Jerroray put her arms 
 about her quickly and soothingly patted her 
 back and murmured words of sympathy and 
 comfort. 
 
 " We have not heard the witness s answer 
 to the last question," said Mr. Warble, com 
 placently, "but I think we all understand. 
 I have finished with her, and unless Colonel 
 Trout desires to cross-examine her she might 
 be excused. 
 
 Tom Norrie whispered energetically to 
 Colonel Trout, who released the witness with 
 apparent reluctance, and upon the proviso 
 that he might call her later for the defence 
 after she had recovered from the severity of 
 the attorney-general s brutal cross-examina 
 tion. 
 
 Then the State called to the witness stand 
 one George M. Drain. The name was en- 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 289 
 
 tirely unfamiliar to Tom, but the person who 
 appeared in answer to it was his old friend 
 Trilby, of the Den of Thieves. He looked 
 at Tom with a hateful smile, and calmly 
 swore that he was the train robber, Tom 
 Nelson. His story was brief, but telling. 
 He had known Nelson but six weeks or 
 thereabouts, had met him several times at 
 a gambling den in Bloomer, known as the 
 Yeller Hell, had been invited by him to 
 join his gang, and had been in all the hold 
 ups. But remorse for the wicked life he was 
 leading, into which he had been drawn by 
 the fascinations and influence of the prisoner, 
 being himself but twenty years old, inexper 
 ienced and of an artless and confiding nat 
 ure (here the crowd laughed derisively) had 
 led him to reflect seriously, and he had fin 
 ally reached the conviction that the only 
 way in which he could retrieve his errors 
 was to give his evil accomplices away to 
 the State. (Hisses and jeers.) In the last 
 hold-up, the occasion on which the prisoner 
 had been captured, he was sent forward 
 early in the day with two other men to see 
 that the coast was clear, to board the train 
 at Aurora, and to stop it at the point agreed 
 on. The other two men were to conceal 
 19 
 
290 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 themselves on the tender and hold up, at the 
 proper time, the engineer and express agent 
 respectively, while his duty was to follow 
 the conductor out the moment the train 
 slackened, and then hold him up before he 
 could leap from the car. This was their 
 usual method, though at times they varied it 
 in order to avert suspicion. He had carried 
 out the program exactly as ordered by his 
 captain, the prisoner, with the one excep 
 tion that while waiting about Aurora he had 
 called on the sheriff, and then, not finding 
 him, on the city marshal. The result was 
 than an Arms palace horse-car had been tel 
 egraphed for to Bloomer and was attached to 
 the long train just at the moment it drew 
 out from Aurora. The stop was made about 
 five miles farther on, but the gang of rob 
 bers took alarm before the marshal and his 
 posse could get their horses out of the car, 
 and thus, having the start of them, mostly 
 escaped. The only way he could account for 
 Nelson himself being the one man caught was 
 that some of the others must have reached first 
 the spot where all the horses were fastened, 
 and taken the boss s fleet thoroughbred. She 
 was fast as the wind, and if he d been on her 
 they d never have had a sight of him. 
 
THE LAW S COURSE 29:1 
 
 All this story was told with such an inde 
 scribable air of cynical hypocrisy and such 
 evident venom, that its narrator became the 
 object of the general disgust of the audience. 
 He was hissed frequently, and such words as 
 sneak, tell-tale, and traitor were cast at him 
 in stage whispers by his many ill-wishers in 
 the crowd. 
 
 But he kept his eye on the jury and his 
 evil, self-satisfied smile never once left him. 
 
 " It s Tom Nelson or nothing now," said 
 Tom Norrie as the court adjourned here for 
 dinner. Jerroray brought Janet to speak to 
 him before he was taken back to the jail, and 
 he had a few moments talk with her. She 
 was too agitated to say much, and they were 
 constrained both by the people about them 
 and the thought of what had happened at 
 their last interview. She told him brokenly 
 of her indignation at being held up. Then 
 a slight illness of her aunt had kept them in 
 Salt Lake City, and when they heard there 
 of the capture of the outlaw all Janet s fight 
 ing instincts had come to the fore, and she 
 had resolved to carry out her threat and 
 meet him in the court-room as a witness for 
 the prosecution. She had taken the journey 
 back alone, much against her aunt s will. 
 
292 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Glad as I am to have found you, Tom, 
 what I have done simply breaks my heart. 
 Her eyes filled with tears, she could say no 
 more, and Tom was led away from her by 
 his impatient guard. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 
 
 As Tom Norrie was brought back into the 
 court-room at two o clock, the first person 
 he saw was the outlaw himself. He was ap 
 parently in the character of the well-dressed 
 and urbane drummer, and he wore the fa 
 miliar little quizzical smile which had been 
 so important a part of his make-up therein. 
 He nodded pleasantly to Tom, but there was 
 somehow in his look a coolness, or aloofness, 
 Tom could scarcely say what, that sent an 
 instant chill to his heart. In his strong lik 
 ing for Tom Nelson, under the spell as it 
 were of his charm, and influenced by the 
 unbounded confidence of Jerroray, it had 
 never once entered his head that the outlaw 
 could betray him. He might be unequal to 
 the task of saving him, or even fail to ap 
 pear at all, but betray him, never ! Now, 
 as the thought flashed across him, Tom saw 
 how completely he was in the man s power, 
 
294 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 and how unlikely it was that he would sac 
 rifice himself to save a person whom he had 
 not known a fortnight. He thought of hard 
 labor in state-prison for twenty years, and 
 turned sick all through, and closed his eyes 
 and dropped his head on his hand with a 
 sense of terrible faintness. Why had he been 
 so foolhardy, so reckless as to stake his 
 whole life upon a cast to throw up every 
 thing for a momentary pleasure in danger, a 
 foolish idea of proving that he was not a 
 coward ? 
 
 He might have gone to Cuba and fought 
 with the patriots there for their independ 
 ence, and died, perhaps, on some battle 
 field, a hero s death. That would have 
 been a happy ending but this ! And would 
 it break Janet s heart ? Would she feel her 
 self to blame ? doubly to blame ? Would 
 it spoil her life, too? Ah, he must prevent 
 that at least ; he must do something to 
 check her remorse and convince her that she 
 was in no sort responsible. Thinking thus 
 he plucked up courage and faced the sit 
 uation again, squarely. There was still a 
 chance that Tom Nelson was there as Jack 
 Potts in mere bravado, and that he would 
 amuse himself with riddling the case of the 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 295 
 
 prosecution with holes and using Mr. War 
 ble as a target for his wit. 
 
 Court opened, and Mr. Warble, with an 
 air of satisfaction that he could not all con 
 ceal, called the name of John H. Potts. 
 Tom Nelson arose, was sworn, and duly 
 took his place on the witness-stand. The 
 first part of the examination brought out the 
 facts that he was a drummer, resident in 
 Chicago, and travelling for a firm there; 
 that he had been in Aurora ten days since 
 and had gone on in the pursuit of his busi 
 ness. Hearing of the capture of the train- 
 robber he had written his friend Mr. Keach 
 of his willingness to tell what he knew at 
 the trial. Mr. Keach, after communicating 
 with the prosecuting attorney, had informed 
 him of the time when it would occur ; and 
 at much inconvenience to himself he had 
 returned from another part of the State to 
 testify. 
 
 Then he narrated rapidly all the while 
 in the hoarse voice of Jack Potts, so differ 
 ent from the smooth accents of Tom Nelson 
 the occurrences of his first meeting with 
 the prisoner in the bar-room of the Empire 
 Hotel at Bud, his immediate recognition of 
 the likeness of his voice to that of the out- 
 
296 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 law, and consequent suspicion that he was 
 not the J. Chance he claimed to be, and his 
 decision to follow him to Aurora on the 
 morning train. He said that the words and 
 actions of the prisoner grew more and more 
 suspicious, the conversation being largely 
 about the train robber, and about the pris 
 oner s intention to recover from him the 
 diamonds he had taken from Miss Geraldine 
 Roray. Then when the prisoner dropped 
 his handkerchief, and at once disowned it 
 on having the tell-tale initials of T. N. 
 pointed out to him, he, the witness, no 
 longer had a doubt, and everyone else in the 
 car surmised at once that Mr. Chance was 
 really Tom Nelson. 
 
 "I object, your Honor," interrupted 
 Colonel Trout, "to allowing this young 
 man to argue the case himself especially," 
 he added in his most sardonic manner, " as 
 he deprives my distinguished colleague of 
 the unaccustomed and valued privilege of 
 arguing before a jury. 
 
 "Mr. Potts," said the Court, "please 
 confine yourself to what happened. We 
 don t care to know your suspicions and sur 
 mises, or any one else s. Just tell us the 
 facts as you saw them." 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 297 
 
 Thus adjured, the outlaw gave briefly the 
 occurrences at the Palace Hotel, and told of 
 his attempt to save the prisoner, and his sug 
 gestion to him to get out of the way as quick 
 as he could. Then he narrated, just as they 
 happened, the escape and his pretended pur 
 suit in order to divert ill will from himself; 
 while Tom Norrie marvelled at his cleverness 
 throughout in not once perjuring himself. 
 
 " Have you seen the prisoner since?" 
 asked Mr. Warble. 
 
 I have, declared the witness. 
 
 " Tell just where and when." 
 
 " My business took me on the train at the 
 time of the last hold-up, the night on which 
 the prisoner was caught, and though masked, 
 I saw him close at hand and recognized him 
 instantly. He saw me and knows that I 
 recognized him. He cannot deny that he 
 was there." Tom Nelson looked directly at 
 Tom Norrie as he said this, and our hero 
 turned pale at the cold perfidy of his smile. 
 
 Colonel Trout, with all his fighting in 
 stincts aroused, began at once on the cross- 
 examination. He started in to make the 
 outlaw confess first that he was no drummer, 
 and that his pretence to be so was merely a 
 cover for other and less legitimate business. 
 
298 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 But Tom Nelson was ready for him at every 
 turn, produced on demand his notebook and 
 record of sales, and even called up an Au 
 rora jeweller in the audience, who would 
 testify that he had sold him a bill of goods 
 only ten days before. The colonel was ap 
 palled at this cleverness and foresight. 
 
 "The man s too smart for us/ he said 
 aside to Tom. " If we cross-examine him 
 on the hold-up he ll be all ready for us there, 
 as he has been here, and just clinch the 
 whole thing tighter. I ll ask him one more 
 question in order to get in Miss Roray s 
 evidence later, and then I ll drop him like 
 a hot potato and be glad to be done with 
 him. He turned once more to the witness. 
 " Did you not on the day of the escape of 
 the prisoner from Aurora make the statement 
 that he was not Tom Nelson ? 
 
 "I can t remember particularly saying 
 anything of that sort," said Jack Potts, eas 
 ily, but assuming a puzzled expression. 
 
 " Oh, very well, that s enough," said the 
 colonel, with all the air of being victor, 
 rather than vanquished. 
 
 Jack Potts sat down, and Mr. Warble de 
 clared, triumphantly : 
 
 " The prosecution rests." 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 299 
 
 After the usual formal motion on the part 
 of Colonel Trout to dismiss the indictment 
 and discharge the prisoner because of the 
 entire lack of evidence against him, and an 
 equally formal denial on the part of the 
 Court, the case for the defence began. 
 
 Colonel Trout did not spend much on 
 flourish in his opening address, but after 
 calling the jury s attention to the superlative 
 and gilt-edged respectability of the firm to 
 which his client belonged, as evidenced by 
 the enormous volume of their business, noted, 
 with telling brevity, the points he proposed 
 to make to controvert those of the prosecu 
 tion. He pointed out the ridiculous aspect 
 of the so-called evidence brought in to prove 
 that the prisoner was the author of the latest 
 hold-up. Then, claiming that he had shown 
 conclusively that they couldn t even prove 
 that he was there at all, he stated that his 
 client, however, was perfectly willing to ad 
 mit that he was there, would explain how 
 and why, and was anxious, in short, to tell 
 his whole story on the witness-stand. The 
 prisoner s fearless and confident innocence 
 had been a lesson to him through his brief 
 association with him. He desired to tell the 
 entire truth to the jury with the most com- 
 
300 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 plete frankness, and contrary as this was to 
 the usual course of procedure, he, Colonel 
 Trout, was perforce won over to a reluctant 
 but absolute belief in its advisability in this 
 particular case. Telling the truth, then, 
 would be the case for the defence ; and af 
 ter that they would conclusively prove that 
 at the time of the four previous hold-ups 
 the prisoner had been far from Rising Sun 
 County, and could not possibly be the author 
 of this tremendous conspiracy. 
 
 So Tom told his truthful tale of the last six 
 eventful weeks of his life, touching briefly 
 upon his whereabouts on the three earliest 
 dates, becoming fuller in details after his ar 
 rival at Bud on the night of the fourth rob 
 bery, retailing Tom Nelson s own story to 
 him of the inner meaning of the happenings 
 on the train and in Aurora, and giving a full 
 and graphic account of all the later occur 
 rences. 
 
 The crowd smiled at his statements about 
 the wonderful black mare that Jack Potts 
 brought him to escape on, and about that 
 gentleman s direction of him to so equivocal 
 a place of safety. They were sympathetic 
 ally amused at the account of his reception 
 in the robber s camp by the robber s gang, 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 301 
 
 and they liked the story of Trilby s thrash 
 ing. But they smiled again when he stated 
 that it was because of the thrashing that 
 Trilby had a spite against him, and swore 
 now that he was Tom Nelson. Then he told 
 them that at the time of the fifth train rob 
 bery he was left behind at the Den, in the 
 custody of the hostler, the Chinaman, and 
 the boy, and they laughed outright. And, in 
 spite of the Judge s reprimand, they laughed 
 again when he said he went to the sixth as 
 a prisoner, and unarmed ; that at the time 
 of the alarm and the hurried escape he had, 
 of his own motion, given himself up to be 
 caught, to save his friend Tom Nelson ; and 
 that the only thing he had refused, and must 
 still refuse to tell, because of the hospitality 
 there received, was the whereabouts of the 
 Den of Thieves. The perfidy of his friend 
 might seem to absolve him from all such 
 necessity of good faith, yet his own sense of 
 honor in the matter was too strong to permit 
 this. 
 
 But though the crowd would not take his 
 tale seriously he was not to be shaken on 
 cross-examination; and Jerroray s evidence, 
 following at once upon his own, and strictly 
 corroborating it all, so far as it went, made 
 
302 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 a very evident good impression. Colonel 
 Trout managed to bring in with her story a 
 great deal to cast suspicion on Jack Potts, 
 yet in such a way as to give the helpless and 
 indignant Mr. Warble no chance to object. 
 Then at the end he said : 
 
 " You have heard Mr. Potts s evidence to 
 the effect that the prisoner is Tom Nelson ? 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Have you ever had any conversation 
 with him on that subject ? 
 
 " I should smile ! He told me in so many 
 words, on the day he helped Chance to get 
 away from my house, that he warn t Tom 
 Nelson j that he knew it, an* could prove it 
 to me, but he hadn t time then, because he 
 had to go after him. An he said he was 
 an Eastern tenderfoot, an a Harvard man, 
 out here on a lark under an assumed name." 
 (Great sensation in court-room.) 
 
 " Was that all he said ? " 
 
 " Well, it was enough to make me as cock 
 sure as he was. But then I had another 
 reason for bein certain he was right." 
 
 "Oh, you had? Well, tell us what this 
 reason was." 
 
 " About the best you could get. I ve seen 
 the real Tom Nelson." 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 303 
 
 t( You have known Tom Nelson and talked 
 with him ? 
 
 " Yes, sir, I have." 
 
 " Under his own name ? 
 
 "Well, not exactly ! " 
 
 " Under what name, then ? " 
 
 " Under the name of Jack Potts." 
 
 " That will do," said Colonel Trout, and 
 Jerroray sat down amid increased sensation. 
 
 "I have not finished with the witness," 
 said Mr. Warble, severely. "Miss Roray, 
 you say that my witness, this estimable gen 
 tleman, Mr. John H. Potts, is Tom Nelson. 
 How do you know this? " 
 
 " Because I m sure of it." 
 
 "Well, but how are you sure of it? " 
 
 " Because I know it. " Everybody laughed 
 and Mr. Warble became more severe. 
 
 Have you ever addressed him as Tom 
 Nelson?" 
 
 "Why, no-o ! " said Jerroray, surprised 
 by the question. 
 
 " Has he himself ever admitted to you 
 that he was Tom Nelson ? 
 
 "Well he didn t need to " 
 
 " Answer directly," said Mr. Warble, re 
 peating the question, and Jerroray was ob 
 liged to say that he hadn t. 
 
304 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Did some one tell you, then, that he was 
 Tom Nelson?" 
 
 " Did you think I just guessed?" said 
 Jerroray, derisively, but was again pinned 
 down to the categorical response. 
 
 " Was it possibly the prisoner, Mr. Chance, 
 who told you so." 
 
 " Well, yes ; he has told me." 
 " Has anybody else told you so ? " 
 " I don t know s anybody else has." 
 " That s all, that s all," said Mr. Warble, 
 briskly. 
 
 Biddy and Ernest were called to confirm 
 Jerroray s evidence, which they did effect 
 ually. Biddy told an excellent story of 
 Micky s connection with the gentleman who 
 had testified as John H. Potts, and how he d 
 made Micky, and she liked him herself, and 
 didn t want to go back on him, but divil a 
 bit would she let him send an innocent man 
 to prison and cut up high jinks with her 
 Jerry s affections. She didn t know whether 
 he was any train robber or not she d never 
 seen him rob trains and she wasn t sure 
 whether his name was Potts or Nelson or 
 Jones or Smith, but he owned the black 
 mare, that was straight. Micky d run away 
 so he needn t testify to it, and she presumed 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 305 
 
 Micky might know his name, but she didn t 
 know all Micky knew, any more n he knew 
 all she knew, and she hoped anyway no 
 body d ever go to state-prison on account of 
 what either of em knew, and she d oughter 
 go home an finish up her bakin instead of 
 sittin round here with a court and wastin 
 all her time. 
 
 " She s your witness, Warble," said the 
 colonel, when the laugh had subsided. 
 
 " I don t want her," said Mr. Warble, in 
 a tone so genuine that everybody laughed 
 again. 
 
 The colonel, in trying to establish the 
 prisoner s good character, succeeded in 
 bringing out through Janet the fact that in 
 the pious city of his birth Mr. Norrie was 
 considered an estimable young man, and 
 that no one would have thought of his turn 
 ing train robber. But his brilliant idea, 
 born of the evidence she had given for the 
 prosecution, was simply to prove that the 
 prisoner was too great a coward anyway to 
 dream of doing anything of the sort. In 
 this attempt he succeeded in making Janet 
 very angry and Jerroray still angrier, and 
 eliciting from both violent statements of the 
 extreme intrepidity of the prisoner. 
 20 
 
306 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 The evidence that attempted to prove that 
 Tom was not there on the occasion of the 
 four first robberies came next, and, as Tom 
 had feared, was very shaky evidence. He 
 had not reflected when he kept such doubt 
 ful company that he was destined to be 
 known by it, so greatly to his own detri 
 ment, and so soon. 
 
 When the defence rested Mr. Warble im 
 mediately called Jack Potts in rebuttal. 
 
 " When Colonel Trout asked you if you 
 had ever stated that the prisoner was not 
 Tom Nelson you were unable to recollect. 
 Has Miss Roray s evidence that you made 
 that statement to her refreshed your mem 
 ory?" 
 
 "It has. I now remember telling her 
 so." 
 
 " Please give your reasons for a statement 
 so contradictory to all your evidence in the 
 trial to-day ? 
 
 Then the outlaw, with a clever assumption 
 of confusion and embarrassment, explained 
 that he was very much taken with Miss 
 Roray; that he saw how her imagination 
 was fired by the thought of Tom Nelson and 
 his exploits, and how the idea that Mr. 
 Chance might be the train robber had visibly 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 3 7 
 
 inclined her toward him ; and that thus, on 
 the basis of any ruse being fair in love, he 
 had simply told her what he did in order 
 that he might have a fair chance to make 
 her like him as much as she already liked 
 his rival darting one bold look at her 
 which would be impossible so long as she 
 thought Mr. Chance was the train robber. 
 
 This plausible explanation had a most con 
 vincing sound. Even Jerroray was puzzled 
 by it, and looked from one young man to 
 the other, as if she hardly knew the truth. 
 Janet, sitting by her side, grew very anxi 
 ous, and whispered to her eagerly, but Jer 
 roray only shook her head vaguely, as if her 
 own uncertainties prevented her from resolv 
 ing another s. 
 
 It was no use, thought Tom Norrie. The 
 game was up, the day was lost. It had 
 rested with Tom Nelson, and Tom Nelson 
 had betrayed him. He was to go to state- 
 prison in the outlaw s place. He remem 
 bered how deeply but a brief time since he 
 had pitied a man he knew for his sentence 
 of two years at hard labor it seemed so bit 
 ter a thing, somehow, for an educated man 
 of delicate tastes and luxurious habits and 
 now ten years of it, at least, lay before him, 
 
308 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 and perhaps twenty practically his whole 
 life. He could not listen to what followed 
 it passed as in a dream. He heard laugh 
 ter now, and then cheers or hisses but they 
 made no impression on him. This was his 
 last day in the big, bright world ; he was go 
 ing to be buried alive, and he should never 
 see Janet again. He forgot Jerroray, he 
 forgot Tom Nelson s perfidy, he forgot every 
 thing except Janet never had he realized 
 until then how much he loved her. 
 
 Colonel Trout filled all the interstices of 
 his summing-up with covert ridicule, not 
 alone of the eminent counsel for the prosecu 
 tion, but of Boreal, the small provincial town 
 in which he resided, and which had actually 
 had the impudence to imagine itself Bloom 
 er s rival when the capital of the State was 
 selected. The colonel had a fine gift for 
 sarcasm, and he screwed Mr. Warble up to 
 such a pitch of writhing, heated indignation 
 that he in turn provided the audience with a 
 great laugh when he rose to reply to Colonel 
 Trout and nearly lost control of himself in 
 the process. Words failed him, and for some 
 moments an inarticulate sputtering of in 
 tense earnestness was all that he could pro 
 duce. 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 309 
 
 But the tragedy of the case was not lost 
 sight of in the humorous aspects of the coun 
 sel engaged. Colonel Trout was pre-eminent 
 as an advocate, and he put the case to the 
 jury with an impassioned spirit that seemed 
 almost to shake them. He pointed out the 
 sheer nonsense of the idea that a man would 
 be able in so short a time to come out of the 
 East, get together a gang, and conduct train 
 robberies so successfully, on so large a scale, 
 without an ounce of experience beyond a 
 tame business life in what was reputed to be 
 even the tamest of tame Eastern cities. To 
 sacrifice such a young man, heedless and 
 reckless, perhaps, but innocent through and 
 through, to a cool desperado like the man 
 who had given evidence as Jack Potts this 
 would be a cruel trick to play under the 
 name of justice. 
 
 He showed clearly the absurdity of think 
 ing that so clever a man as Tom Nelson 
 would travel about in the way in which it 
 had been proved that the prisoner did, with 
 a large valise full of his belongings, all clearly 
 marked with his initials. Tom Nelson, go 
 ing over the road directly after one of his 
 robberies to hear what people might say of 
 him, would carry with him the least possible 
 
310 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 luggage, after the manner of the so-called 
 Jack Potts, being then always ready for in 
 stant flight, and leaving no incriminating 
 evidence behind him. 
 
 Moreover, the real robber would be no 
 such fool as to pretend that he had never 
 heard of the train robberies, and then talk of 
 nothing but of them and their perpetrator ; 
 whereas a young man like Mr. Norrie, com 
 ing in search of adventures from the tame 
 East to the wild West, would have behaved 
 exactly so ; nothing could be more natural 
 than his interest in the whole matter. 
 
 A guilty man, too, would have been fright 
 ened by the demonstrations in the bar-room 
 of the Palace Hotel, and would have got out 
 of town inside of ten minutes after getting 
 out of the hotel. The prisoner, on the con 
 trary, calmly went to drink afternoon tea 
 afternoon tea, gentlemen with a young 
 lady, who happened also to be the sheriffs 
 daughter. Did that look like a guilty con 
 science or a clear one ? 
 
 Again, when the prisoner was captured 
 after the last hold-up, was not his own round 
 unvarnished tale corroborated by the facts of 
 his being unarmed and mounted on an in 
 ferior nag, when it was known that the train 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 311 
 
 robber himself rode the best horse in all the 
 country side ? 
 
 " Gentlemen of the jury, in the prisoner 
 at the bar, my unfortunate, innocent, and 
 maligned client, the State recognizes its last 
 chance. For over a month it has been, as 
 it were, held at bay, by the most audacious 
 and accomplished villain that ever defied its 
 authority. The State cannot catch Tom 
 Nelson, but its pride is at stake and it must 
 catch somebody. So it apprehends an un 
 armed and peaceful citizen, and bends all its 
 energies to sending him to state-prison. It 
 amounts to a conspiracy, gentlemen, a con 
 spiracy to sacrifice an innocent man to save 
 the pride of the government. If you or I, 
 gentlemen, had been riding our favorite 
 horse on that prairie, on that evening, we, 
 too, should have been caught and declared 
 to be Tom Nelson. 
 
 " Now let me tell you how it all occurred. 
 Your most admirable sheriff, a gentleman 
 celebrated in his official capacity through 
 out the whole State, is unfortunately out of 
 town when word is brought of the hold-up 
 to occur on a certain train at a certain time. 
 But the city marshal of Aurora, instead of 
 sending off post haste after him, as might 
 
312 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 easily have been done, is delighted with a 
 chance of distinguishing himself which, we 
 may remark parenthetically, he has most ef 
 fectually accomplished. He gets together a 
 large band of brave men, arms them to the 
 teeth, and they set forth to hold up the 
 hold-uppers, if I may coin the word. But 
 do they do it as men of sense would do it ? 
 seat themselves like passengers in the for 
 ward car and seize the robbers the moment 
 they appear ? Not a bit not a bit, gentle 
 men ! They take along a lot of useless 
 horses and tie themselves on to the end of 
 the train. They think they may as well 
 combine pleasure with business and have an 
 evening canter ; and anyhow they are safer 
 on horseback, at a distance from the robbers, 
 than within close range of their guns. So 
 they bungle the thing about as bad as it 
 could be bungled, and let the whole gang of 
 robbers get away in the darkness. Half a 
 dozen schoolboys, gentlemen, could have 
 caught those train robbers, but the city 
 marshal of Aurora, with the entire police 
 force of the city, with deputies and horses 
 and all his supposed experience and his won 
 derful courage, he was powerless to get one 
 of em. So then Marshal Gosling says to 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 313 
 
 his men: Now we ve come out with all 
 these horses and all this flourish we can t go 
 back without somebody ; the people back in 
 Aurora wouldn t like it. We ve got to find 
 a man. Any kind of a man will do, but a 
 man we must have. So then they cruise 
 around a while and finally light on the 
 prisoner. And the marshal says to his dep 
 uties : * Now he looks like Tom Nelson, 
 he acts like Tom Nelson, and he speaks like 
 Tom Nelson. Let s call him Tom Nelson ! 
 So then they have a christening and return 
 to Aurora with flying colors. And my in 
 nocent client, sacrificed first to save the 
 pride of the city marshal of Aurora, is now 
 being sacrificed again to save the pride of 
 the attorney-general of the State. If this, 
 gentlemen, is justice, let us demand injustice ; 
 if this is right, let us on our bended knees 
 sue for wrong ! " 
 
 " And to take as conclusive evidence 
 against the prisoner the testimony of such a 
 confessed criminal as the man named Drain," 
 went on the colonel " a creature known by 
 so low and common a nickname as Trilby, 
 which in itself was enough to place him 
 morally among the vilest scoundrels yet a 
 man, too, who looked the name, if any one 
 
314 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 could who might, in short, be said to be 
 a Trilby of the deepest dye a man whose 
 malice and libel were amply accounted for 
 by the severe thrashing given him by the 
 prisoner to take the evidence of such an 
 abandoned animal, a branded sneak and in 
 former, and put it before that of two such 
 exemplary, innocent, and high-minded young 
 people as Miss Geraldine Roray and the 
 prisoner this was indeed a crime against 
 justice. 
 
 " Look on the guileless and noble face 
 of the prisoner, gentlemen of the jury, and 
 then on the scheming wickedness of the 
 countenance of John H. Potts look on 
 them both, consider well, and then, if you 
 can, send the innocent to jail and let the 
 criminal go free ! Tear this young man 
 from the arms of a lady who loves him, 
 break up two sweet young lives, cast an aw 
 ful gloom on a great commercial name of un 
 tarnished business integrity, interfere with 
 nature, youth, love, domestic joy, trade, and 
 credit, and then, if you can, call yourselves 
 ever again honest American citizens ! " 
 
 The colonel sat down mopping his brow, 
 flushed and self-satisfied, after this impas 
 sioned appeal. The crowd cheered him and 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 
 
 some tender-hearted ladies and gentlemen 
 wept over his eloquence. 
 
 Hope sprang once more in the hearts of 
 Jerroray and Janet. The decision of the 
 jury was again in doubt. 
 
 The eloquent speech of Mr. Warble, the 
 Judge s charge neither of them could dim 
 this hope. Then the jury went out, the 
 twelve arbiters of a man s whole life, and 
 every one in the audience asked his neighbor 
 what the verdict would be. There seemed 
 at least half a chance for the prisoner, so 
 gallant and good-looking a young man, sit 
 ting there with his eyes fixed mournfully on 
 the face of the young Eastern lady, who 
 surely loved him now, whatever she had done 
 seven weeks before. The color had come 
 back into her dark face since Colonel Trout s 
 strong effort for the prisoner, and sitting as 
 she did, side by side with Jerroray, such a 
 contrast to her brilliant fairness and bloom, 
 she made part of an uncommon picture. 
 Jack Potts sat within two feet of them, close 
 at Jerroray s hand, but though she had 
 smiled at him with a dazzling sweetness on 
 her first sight of him, she had looked at him 
 but once since he had given his testimony, 
 and then only to throw into his eyes a glance 
 
316 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 of flashing scorn. He had smiled even then, 
 and was smiling still, that little quiet smile 
 that gave him a look of such coolness and 
 mastery and cynical indifference. Jerroray 
 stole a secret sidewise look at him now. 
 
 " I suppose it s natural you should think. I 
 was in love with your Tom, bein as you re 
 in love with him yourself," she said to Janet. 
 " And of course, I do like him awful well, 
 an* we ve been awful good chums this jail 
 trip. But, my ! I never saw but one man 
 who could stir me all up inside and out an 
 that s the one, that Jack Potts, who s Tom 
 Nelson just as sure as I m Jerry Roray. I 
 could have loved him. Somehow he just 
 strikes me all of a heap, first one way and 
 then t other, for I hate him now just as much 
 as I did like him. An yet all the time I 
 can t believe that he won t get Tom Norrie 
 off. I feel sure he can do anything he wants 
 to, an that he wants to do that. But if he 
 don t I ll never speak a decent word to him 
 so long as I live I swear it ! I could stand 
 a coward better n a sneak that gives away 
 his chums that trust him." 
 
 A sudden movement cut short Jerroray s 
 further remarks for though but ten min 
 utes had passed the jury were coming back. 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 3 X 7 
 
 Breathless stillness held everyone, as they 
 moved into the room. Even Tom waked 
 from his lethargy and turned to look at them 
 with almost a ray of hope in his heart. They 
 were looking at him, too, and the foreman 
 caught his eye as the clerk put to him the 
 usual formal questions, and faltered in the 
 words he was about to speak, and looked 
 about him in sudden embarrassment. Then 
 in a moment more he recovered himself and 
 delivered the verdict. 
 
 " Guilty ! " 
 
 Yes, of course it was all over what else 
 could have been expected ? Tom asked 
 himself. He looked about the court-room 
 in a dazed way, and again his eyes fell upon 
 the familiar, yet unfamiliar, face he had seen 
 before in the crowd. The man was looking 
 directly at him, with a sort of friendly grin, 
 and in this moment of emotion it flashed 
 across Tom that it was Snide Snide with 
 his beard shaved off, and in store clothes, 
 yet unmistakably Snide none the less. He 
 looked toward Nelson in a meaning way, 
 and Tom followed his eyes. He looked 
 back and Snide nodded, then fixed his eyes 
 on someone far front in the crowd, and 
 again Tom followed only to see Button. 
 
3i8 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 The same process was gone through once 
 more, and this time it was Gully s red head, 
 now close-cropped, by which our hero s eyes 
 were refreshed. Snide had apparently other 
 human facts to communicate, but some one 
 nudged the prisoner, and he found that the 
 clerk was addressing him, and asking him 
 if he had anything to say before receiving 
 sentence. 
 
 "Only what I have said before," said 
 Tom, rising and speaking with quiet firm 
 ness, " that I am an innocent man. My 
 own recklessness, and the perfidy of a man I 
 liked and trusted have put me in this com 
 promising situation. I can see, myself, how 
 much it all looks against me, but I ought to 
 be given the benefit of the doubt. Tom 
 Nelson, alias Jack Potts, is the man who 
 should go to prison not I. 
 
 Colonel Trout pleaded warmly with the 
 court for as light a sentence as possible, 
 mentioning the youth and previous unblem 
 ished record of his client, Mr. Norrie, his 
 excellent connections, his position, and his 
 prospects. 
 
 The Judge, plainly moved, said however, 
 that in many eyes all these condoning cir 
 cumstances might be thought aggravating 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 319 
 
 ones the great opportunities of the prisoner 
 making his responsibilities toward society 
 only the greater. 
 
 "You have had a fair trial and been 
 found guilty," he said, looking at Tom, and 
 speaking with hesitation, almost as if he 
 were apologizing for justice. The prisoner s 
 frank and serious face was so convincingly 
 innocent that it was with an evident effort 
 that his Honor continued : " It is the sen 
 tence of this court that you be confined in 
 the state-prison at Bloomer, at hard labor, 
 for the term of twenty years. 
 
 Janet gave a wild cry that rang through 
 the court-room. She covered her face with 
 her hands and bent her head in complete 
 abandon upon Jerroray s lap. Jerroray sat 
 bolt upright, white as a white rose, and red 
 as a red one by turns, her arms thrown close 
 about the form of poor Janet, shaken in its 
 grief. She turned her head and darted one 
 burning look of scorn at Nelson, and met in 
 his eye a smile of so subtle meaning that it 
 made her heart stand still w r ith a sudden re 
 vulsion of feeling. 
 
 "There s still life, and therefore hope," 
 he murmured. He rose, looked deliberately 
 about the crowded court-room, then finally 
 
320 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 at the Judge, and asked for permission to 
 speak a few words which might establish the 
 innocence of the prisoner. Strange as the 
 request was, and without precedent, there 
 was something so significant in the man s 
 face and voice that the Court could not deny 
 him. 
 
 "It is an unusual thing to ask, and an 
 unusual thing to permit," said his Honor, 
 11 but the peculiarities of the case, the rela 
 tion in which you stand to it, and a strong 
 sense of the innocence and integrity of the 
 prisoner in spite of the damning evidence 
 against him, lead me to grant it. Yet you 
 are aware that in knowing the prisoner to be 
 innocent, yet swearing to his guilt, you have 
 perjured yourself, and are hence guilty of 
 grave contempt of court." 
 
 Tom Nelson bowed. "So it might 
 seem," he said, the assumed hoarseness gone 
 from his tones at last ; and as he spoke Janet 
 lifted her head with a startled look. 
 
 "The voice! The real voice!" she 
 cried. She looked at Tom, who was sud 
 denly smiling, at Jerroray, who was radiant, 
 at the crowd struck with her cry and agog 
 with sudden expectancy of something ab 
 normal about to happen. 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 321 
 
 "So it might seem," repeated Tom Nel 
 son, bland, suave, and master of the situa 
 tion. " But your Honor nevertheless mis 
 takes. My contempt, if I have it, is in no 
 sort contempt of you or of your august 
 court, but rather the contempt of an outlaw 
 for all law, for the travesty of justice which 
 rants up and down the little legal stage. 
 But if your Honor will condescend to look 
 over the record of my evidence you will see 
 that I have nowhere perjured myself. I re 
 lated things exactly as they happened, and 
 in no place did I state that the prisoner was 
 Tom Nelson. That inference was in the 
 minds of those who heard what I said, and 
 makes of all this a very suggestive commen 
 tary on the value of circumstantial evidence. 
 For while I have said only what is true, and 
 am guilty neither of perjury nor of contempt 
 of court, yet the prisoner was practically 
 convicted by my testimony, and I am my 
 self, all the while, Tom Nelson, the train 
 robber. [Great sensation.] Mr. Norrie, 
 the prisoner at the bar, saved my life at great 
 risk to his own last week, and I am come to 
 day, as I promised him then, to save him 
 from the consequences. He has been reck 
 less and brave, but is entirely innocent of 
 21 
 
322 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 any and all the crimes for which he has been 
 so unjustly convicted." Tom Nelson pro 
 nounced these last words slowly and with 
 strong emphasis, like an actor who wishes to 
 make sure that his paint is not missed, and 
 in truth the crowd broke at once into tu 
 multuous cheering, and it was some min 
 utes before the Judge could bring them to 
 order. 
 
 " This is a most remarkable confession, 
 at a most remarkable time," he said. "In 
 all my twenty years on the bench I have 
 known of nothing like it." He spoke 
 gravely, almost with emotion ; then turned 
 to Colonel Trout and asked him if he had 
 any suggestions to make. 
 
 The colonel rose with great alacrity, stat 
 ing that he agreed with his Honor that it 
 was a most extraordinary occurrence, and, 
 it seemed to him, required extraordinary ac 
 tion on the part of the court. "I will 
 therefore move you, sir, that the conviction 
 and sentence of my client be vacated ; and, 
 that the procedure may be orderly, I will 
 first make a motion for a new trial, on the 
 ground of this newly discovered evidence 
 and the manifest mistake that has been made. 
 And if the attorney-general insists in putting 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 323 
 
 the county to further expense in the endeavor 
 to convict an innocent man, I shall ask you 
 to let the prisoner go on his own recogniz 
 ance pending this trial. And I ask that, 
 contrary to the usual rule of procedure, this 
 motion be heard and disposed of at once." 
 
 The Judge said that he was ready to com 
 ply with these very reasonable suggestions, 
 unless the attorney-general had some valid 
 objections. 
 
 The county prosecutor was talking to Mr. 
 Warble with great warmth, evidently trying 
 hard to convince him of something, and as 
 that gentleman said nothing in response to 
 the Judge s remark, Colonel Trout asked 
 that Tom Nelson be sworn upon this motion. 
 The outlaw made his full confession under 
 oath, telling his story briefly, humorously, 
 and in that " takin " way that Jerrorayhad 
 already noted as one of his pleasing features. 
 He compelled sympathy by his very man 
 ner, and the crowd, listening breathlessly to 
 every word, was altogether with him long 
 before he finished. They applauded all the 
 jokes he made, and every expression of re 
 volt against the existing order of society. 
 These expressions were chiefly directed 
 against his own parent, to whom he sent 
 
324 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 several vivacious messages through the news 
 paper reporters present. 
 
 Snide and Gully were called by Colonel 
 Trout, at Nelson s suggestion, to corro 
 borate his testimony. Then the colonel, 
 after consulting a moment with the outlaw, 
 stated that there were ten or more other wit 
 nesses to testify to the same facts, but that 
 he should prefer not to trouble the court 
 further unless, he added, sarcastically, the 
 other side should make it necessary by their 
 case whatever it might be. 
 
 Mr. Warble replied pompously, in re 
 sponse to the Judge s question, that he should 
 call no witnesses in opposition to the mo 
 tion. 
 
 The Judge thereupon announced that he 
 should grant the motion for a new trial, add 
 ing that the conviction and sentence were 
 thereby set aside. He then spoke slowly and 
 judicially for some moments, suggesting that 
 if the attorney-general were willing, there 
 hardly need be another trial. After this ex 
 traordinary confession under oath, it would 
 be very unlikely to find a jury who would 
 convict, and the seemingly needless expense 
 to the county would be great. If the at 
 torney-general wished time to consider 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 3 2 5 
 
 Mr. Warble arose with greater airs of im 
 portance than ever, though mingled now 
 with an evident sense of bitter injury, and 
 said that his only desire was to see justice 
 done, as he had stated in his opening. He 
 should prefer to leave the matter in the 
 hands of the Court, and would cheerfully 
 acquiesce in any decision it might arrive at. 
 He had come into the case after it was en 
 tirely prepared by his able young friend, the 
 county prosecutor, and had himself nothing 
 to do with getting up the evidence. If he 
 had seen Mr. Potts before he went on the 
 stand all might have been otherwise and a 
 serious blunder obviated. And he had just 
 succeeded in convincing his young friend 
 that the interests of justice would be better 
 subserved by the entry of a nol. pros, in the 
 case of the State against this false Tom 
 Nelson keeping his eye, as he said so, 
 upon the real Nelson, who smiled at him 
 pleasantly. 
 
 " Mr. Clerk," said his Honor at once, 
 " you may make the entry of nol. pros, and 
 the order of the court that the prisoner be 
 honorably discharged." He turned to Tom 
 Norrie and apologized to him in a dignified 
 way on behalf both of the court and of the 
 
326 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 people of the county, congratulating him on 
 his release and winding up with a few elo 
 quent remarks which were at once applauded 
 by the excited and happy crowd. The Judge 
 smiled indulgently on these demonstrations, 
 and did not check them, being well aware 
 of his own eloquence and of the necessary 
 results upon an audience of giving it rein. 
 
 Mr. Warble, on the contrary, being anxi 
 ous to speak, was greatly annoyed. As soon 
 as the noise subsided he made himself heard, 
 with crushing dignity. " Your Honor will, 
 of course, order this hardened scoundrel, the 
 real Tom Nelson, into the custody of the 
 sheriff, charged with the crimes that he has 
 confessed committing ? " 
 
 " I so order," said the Judge, " and the 
 sheriff will do his duty." 
 
 The Terror of Aurora, who had seemed 
 very uneasy for some time and had kept his 
 eye fixed upon the outlaw, started with great 
 eagerness to do as he was bid. He had hard 
 ly reached his feet before Tom Nelson, with 
 a smile, threw one arm high in the air, and 
 upon the signal fifteen or twenty masked 
 men immediately rose from the crowd at 
 various points throughout the room, and fif 
 teen or twenty revolvers, following the direc- 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 327 
 
 tion of the outlaw s eyes, were fixed upon the 
 sheriff as a target. In the general excite 
 ment no one had noticed the masks going 
 on, and every one was taken by surprise ; 
 many of the women screamed and some of 
 the men turned pale. The sheriff, however, 
 only took on a more determined look, and, 
 ripping out several striking oaths and two 
 revolvers as well, vowed he d do his duty if 
 he died on the field, and called on all good 
 citizens to help him. Riot and bloodshed 
 might have been the order of the day in less 
 than five seconds had not Jerroray, radiant 
 with excitement and happiness, opportunely 
 interfered. 
 
 " Oh, now, Terence Roray, just you come 
 off ! " she said, approaching him with an air 
 of cool command. " What can one dog do 
 against twenty? The court ain t armed, 
 sure, cause it s against the law to carry con 
 cealed weapons, an if the court ain t law- 
 abidin , who is? So you ve got nobody to 
 back you up, an you better just put away 
 your gun. Tom Nelson s an awful popular 
 gent, an we re all on his side here. So if 
 you don t want to turn your dear little toes 
 up in the cold all alone, you d better hand 
 your barkers over to me. I don t want to 
 
328 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE . 
 
 lose my daddy, an I ll take good care you 
 don t get em back again pretty quick. 
 Come, there s a good dad," she said, wheed- 
 lingly, grabbing at the revolvers, " give em 
 up to your little girl like an obedient parent 
 I always know what s best for you, Ter 
 ence." 
 
 She had already unbuckled his belt and 
 holsters, and now as he yielded to her with 
 a shamefaced laugh, she herself put them on 
 with ostentatious airs of unconsciousness be 
 fore the crowd, and wrapped the belt a sec 
 ond time about her hour-glass waist in order 
 to be able to buckle it at all. The crowd 
 was delighted and set up three cheers for 
 Jerroray, while she stood laughing, in full 
 view, as pleased as a child. 
 
 " Now, gentlemen, give her three cheers 
 again," said Tom Nelson, " as the outlaw s 
 bride this time. 
 
 " Gracious ! " cried Jerroray, " what 
 cheek you drummers have got ! You haven t 
 even asked me yet." 
 
 But you told me to my face that you 
 were in love with Tom Nelson." 
 
 " That was rather a giveaway," she ad 
 mitted. 
 
 " And besides here are your diamonds." 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 3 2 9 
 
 " Well, that settles it," she said. "I m 
 yours. But if you d really been the sneak 
 to go back on Tom Norrie you d never have 
 laid a finger on me ! 
 
 She took his arm and the crowd gave her 
 three cheers, and then three more for Mr. 
 and Mrs. Nelson. 
 
 "That sounds nice," said the outlaw. 
 " We may as well get it fixed up right off. 
 Mr. Roray, will you give the bride away? " 
 
 The sheriff looked about at the array of 
 revolvers. " Well, yes. I suppose I may as 
 well," he replied, and the crowd laughed. 
 
 " Will you marry us, Judge ? " 
 
 The Judge, looking on with placid but ir 
 responsible interest, was startled. 
 
 " Who, I ? I never did such a thing in 
 my life," he said. " Don t know how, and 
 couldn t think of it." 
 
 " We ll take it as a particular favor if you 
 do all the same," said Tom Nelson, genially. 
 " The mayor s on hand, and he ll tell you 
 how." 
 
 The Judge, like the sheriff, took a discreet 
 glance at the revolvers and consented. With 
 the mayor to prompt him he managed to 
 perform the ceremony very creditably, and 
 then received his reward in the shape of a 
 
33 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 most unexpected and resounding kiss from 
 the new Mrs. Nelson. The crowd shouted 
 and cat-called again in wild joy. 
 
 "I d kiss the jury, too, if I wasn t afraid 
 they d be embarrassed," said the bride, 
 " but you ve got to have one anyhow, Ter 
 ence," and she enfolded the sheriff in a vio 
 lent embrace. " I hate to leave my good 
 old dad, but I expect it ll be better for me 
 and my husband s health to take a right 
 smart of a weddin trip." 
 
 "I shall miss you awful, Jerry," said the 
 sheriff, with feeling. 
 
 " Not a bit more n I ll miss you, Terence 
 but you ll come to see us bime-by when 
 things ain t quite so lively. Say," she said 
 suddenly to Tom Norrie, "don t you want 
 to get married too ? 
 
 " Nobody would think of marrying me," 
 he replied, with a laugh. 
 
 Then Janet did something that she is proud 
 of now whenever she thinks of it, though 
 she can never understand how she came to be 
 brave enough to do it before all those people. 
 " I will marry you, Tom if you want me," 
 she said, with grave dignity, and flushed at 
 the cheers which rung out in her honor. 
 
 " It s the wish of my life," he declared. 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 331 
 
 He advanced and took her hand and kissed 
 it reverently. " You won t regret it ? " he 
 whispered. 
 
 "Never!" she declared. "You re the 
 bravest man I ever knew. 
 
 The mayor performed the second cere 
 mony, it being rather rough on the poor 
 Judge to work him so hard, as Tom Nelson 
 explained, and the second couple not having 
 the same sentimental reasons for wishing 
 him to do the job for them. 
 
 " Now," said Tom Nelson to the crowd, 
 " we want to get out of this. The question 
 is, have we got to do it by force or are you 
 all goin to help ? 
 
 " We ll standby you ! " 
 
 "You re a peach ! " 
 
 " We ll see you through ! " 
 
 . Hurrah for Tom Nelson ! 
 
 These and many other expressions of sym 
 pathy poured out on the evening air, and 
 Mr. Nelson looked pleased. 
 
 "That s good," he said. "Now, gen 
 tlemen, my idea is this. The express goes 
 through here in half an hour, and I would 
 suggest that we escort Mr. and Mrs. Norrie 
 to the train in a body (cheers), and see 
 them off on their weddin tour (redoubled 
 
332 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 cheers). But to effect this pleasin little 
 plan it will be necessary to keep Aurora s 
 Terror, my esteemed father-in-law, agreea 
 bly entertained in the interim, for I see he 
 still has business in his eye." He called 
 thereupon for volunteers, formed them into 
 a committee to entertain the sheriff, and 
 suggested the Palace Hotel bar-room as a 
 suitable spot for the festivities. Handing 
 over a lot of money to Mr. Cutler Keach, 
 he asked him to provide the sheriff and party, 
 and all the rest of the crowd, with their fa 
 vorite drinks, and as much of them as they 
 could get down. 
 
 "There ll still be somethin left over," 
 he said, " but you can keep that to expend 
 on your further education as a detective. I 
 think you can do a little in that line some 
 time, if you work hard," he added, with a 
 smile. 
 
 Trilby was then handed over to the crowd 
 with recommendations to their mercy. 
 
 " He ain t worth killin ," said Tom Nel 
 son. "Just duck him, or give him a lit 
 tle coat of tar and feathers, or somethin of 
 
 that sort. He s a d d sneak, but things 
 
 have turned out so well that I don t bear 
 him any grudge. 
 
THE COURSE OF THE OUTLAW 333 
 
 Mr. Nelson shook hands pleasantly with 
 the attorney-general, Colonel Trout, and the 
 Judge a ceremony performed with humor 
 by the Court, cordiality by the colonel, and 
 a stiff resistance on the part of Mr. Warble. 
 Tom Norrie followed his example in two of 
 the cases, and settled also the natural anx 
 ieties of his counsel in regard to proper pay 
 ment for his services. 
 
 Then, bidding an affectionate good-by to 
 to all the court, they set out for the station, 
 amid the wildest enthusiasm on the part of 
 the crowd. And as the train drew out, 
 bearing one bride and groom to Salt Lake 
 City, they saw the other two set off on horse 
 back for the land called Safety, attended by 
 Gully and Snide, while Micky, who had 
 brought Folly and the Red Devil, wiped 
 away several tears on his sleeve. Everybody 
 cheered, and thus came to an end the great 
 est sensation Rising Sun County had ever 
 known. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE? 
 
 Two weeks later, in the golden afternoon 
 of a perfect day, Tom and Janet were rest 
 ing from a long climb by the banks of a lit 
 tle mountain lake. The trees on the shore 
 were spreading and picturesque, with open 
 spaces between them, and a short wood 
 land grass grew everywhere, golden green as 
 the sun lay upon it, emerald and blue in the 
 deep shadows of the trees. Tom, in knick 
 erbockers, was stretched at full length on his 
 back under a huge white oak, with a protrud 
 ing root of the tree for a pillow. Janet, in 
 short skirt and leggings, sat close by in the 
 attitude of the dying gladiator, resting on 
 one hand, while with the other she absent 
 ly pulled up the grass, leaf by leaf. 
 
 They had just received that morning, as 
 they were setting out from the hotel for their 
 day s jaunt, a naive and characteristic epis 
 tle from Jerroray, telling of the excitements 
 
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE? 335 
 
 of their honeymoon on the wing, and of 
 their adventurous plans for the future Cuba 
 first, for " some real up and down fighting," 
 and then a season of " melting the coin " in 
 "Paree," where they hoped "Terence" 
 would join them, and possibly Tom and 
 Janet also. Our hero and heroine had dis 
 cussed these pleasant plans a little at the 
 time, but now had not mentioned either the 
 outlaw or his bride for several hours. And 
 for the last ten minutes they had not spoken 
 at all. 
 
 "Tom," said Janet, finally, "I can t 
 see what kept you from falling in love with 
 Jerroray. 
 
 " Neither can I," responded Tom at once, 
 his eyes fixed on a brown thrush hopping about 
 among the leafy branches over his head. 
 
 Janet looked a little dashed at the prompt 
 ness of this agreement with her views. 
 " She was so extraordinarily good-looking," 
 she went on, however, in a moment, " and 
 so good-tempered and kind and sympathetic, 
 and so quick-witted and sharp, and so really 
 intelligent by nature, and not vulgar in spite 
 of the vulgar people she had lived with all 
 her life, and so clear-headed and sensible, 
 and so jolly and so amusing and droll 
 
33 6 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " I should think you had learned Soule s 
 synonymes by heart," remarked Tom. 
 
 "Well, I can t see it at all." 
 
 "Neither can I when I m not looking 
 at it." Tom rose to a sitting posture, and 
 looked directly at his wife. " Now, how 
 ever, it s very visible," he observed. 
 
 " Oh ! " said Janet, with a world of pleas 
 ant enlightenment in her voice. 
 
 Tom clasped his knees, still looking at 
 Janet. " I may as well confess that I tried 
 hard to fall in love with her, but though I 
 was sure that you were nothing to me, I 
 couldn t get you out of my head." 
 
 Janet looked as if this were a gratifying 
 fact. "It would have served me right if 
 you had," she said. 
 
 " But you really wouldn t have cared 
 much," said Tom, after a moment s silence. 
 "It was only the dramatic way the thing 
 happened that made you think you liked me 
 again. I never ought to have taken so base 
 an advantage of you as to marry you at such 
 a moment of excitement." 
 
 "Tom," said Janet, gravely, laying her 
 hand upon his arm, " the excitement had 
 nothing to do with it. I knew the moment 
 you left me, that last evening at home, that 
 
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE? 337 
 
 I had made an awful mistake ; that I loved 
 you more than I ever did ; that it was be 
 cause I loved you that f had felt and be 
 haved as I did. I could think of nothing 
 but you day and night, and I had made up 
 my mind, Tom, that if you took me at my 
 word and let me go, and never came back, 
 that I well, that I should appear in the 
 role of Strephon again, and go after you ! 
 
 Tom now looked as gratified as Janet had 
 done a moment since, but his expression of 
 this feeling was of a purely inarticulate 
 nature. 
 
 After a few moments Janet reopened the 
 conversation. " There s one thing you said 
 that I want to go back to. Why did you 
 try to fall in love with Jerroray ? " 
 
 "Oh," said Tom, "that s very compli 
 cated. There were lots of reasons. 
 
 "Well, tell me them all." 
 
 "Oh, they wouldn t all interest you, but 
 I ll tell you some of them." 
 
 " I insist on having them all." 
 
 "One reason," said Tom, ignoring this 
 last speech, " was to prove to myself that I 
 was utterly indifferent to you. I was confi 
 dent, of course, that I was so, but still the 
 positive proof would be pleasant." 
 22 
 
33 8 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 " Well ? " said Janet, smiling. 
 
 " Another was that she was so good-look 
 ing." 
 
 Janet stopped smiling. " Do you really 
 think looks are of any importance when you 
 love a person ? " she inquired, with an air of 
 fine scorn. 
 
 " Oh, no, not important, but it s pleasant 
 to have a good-looking person around all the 
 time, you know." 
 
 Janet grew thoughtful. < Tom, she said, 
 and then stopped. 
 
 "Well? 11 asked Tom. 
 
 " Oh, nothing I was just going to ask 
 you a question of no account." 
 
 "But it s the questions of no account 
 that are always the most interesting." 
 
 "Oh, no, this isn t interesting." 
 
 " But ask it, and let me judge." 
 
 " No, I ll ask another. Don t you think 
 fair women are always much more beautiful 
 than dark ones ? 
 
 "Why, no not always." 
 
 "But almost always," persisted Janet; 
 " they look so much purer and whiter 
 like angels." 
 
 "Well, perhaps," said Tom, and Janet 
 became very grave. " But I know one dark 
 
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE? 339 
 
 woman," he added, " who is more beautiful 
 than any blonde I have ever seen." 
 
 The clouds broke into sunshine on Janet s 
 face. "Oh, Tom," she cried, "I know 
 you don t think I m half so good-looking as 
 Jerroray ! 
 
 " Well, I didn t say that, did I? " 
 
 "Oh, Tom!" 
 
 " I think you re a great deal better-looking 
 than Jerroray, or any other woman I ve ever 
 seen," said Tom, fatuously, quite forgetting 
 the contrary opinion he had lately held 
 when living in the direct light of Jerroray s 
 countenance. 
 
 "Oh, Tom! do you really think so? I 
 thought her the most beautiful person I d 
 ever seen, and I know I can t compare to 
 her, but I do like to have you think so ! " 
 
 "And you a college girl," said Tom. 
 "Women are all alike." 
 
 Now tell me the other reasons why you 
 tried to fall in love with Jerroray," de 
 manded Janet, becoming practical again. 
 
 "Oh, I hoped you d forget that," said 
 Tom. " Well, I thought she d be very 
 pleasant and easy to live with, so easy and 
 good-tempered and jolly all the things you 
 just said about her." 
 
340 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 "And is that all?" 
 
 "I think so," said Tom, mendaciously. 
 
 "Tom, you re not telling the truth 
 there s something else." 
 
 " But I don t wish to say it." 
 
 " So I perceive, but you needn t try to 
 evade me." 
 
 " Well, it was simply that if I married her, 
 she you see, she s not been brought up in 
 luxury she wouldn t want I mean she d 
 not mind 
 
 "Now, Tom, you must tell me the plain 
 truth. If we can t be openly honest with 
 each other we d better dissolve partnership 
 at once. Besides, I know what you were 
 going to say that if you married Jerroray 
 you d not need to slave yourself to death 
 keeping up an expensive establishment, with 
 lots of servants and horses and expensive 
 gowns for your wife." 
 
 1 Jerroray is very fond of good clothes, 
 observed Tom. 
 
 " But wasn t that it?" 
 
 " Possibly something like it." 
 
 "Well. I ve been thinking about that, 
 too, ever since what you said to me that 
 night about hating your business. And and 
 I ve come to a conclusion." 
 
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE? 341 
 
 " Break it to me," said Tom, cheerfully. 
 " I can bear it." 
 
 " That s what I ve been meaning to do 
 every day since we were married, only there 
 hasn t been time. This is it. You re not 
 to go back into the business." 
 
 Tom started. " How do you propose to 
 live?" he asked, after a moment. "Can 
 you use that costume for a dinner gown 
 and dine on air ? " 
 
 "No," said Janet; "but all the same 
 It doesn t seem necessary to me to sell our 
 lives in order to exist in luxury or rather, 
 to sell your life. I have thought it all out in 
 these weeks since we parted. I saw first 
 how selfish and unsympathetic I was to you 
 during our engagement, and I regretted it 
 bitterly. And then I realized suddenly how 
 much sacrifice I had expected of you through 
 out our life, and how little I expected of 
 myself. Most women feel the same and do 
 the same, but it really isn t our fault so 
 much as the fault of the way in which 
 we are brought up. But I made up my 
 mind that when I had won you back I 
 wasn t going to have you sell your life 
 to pay for the money to buy my luxuries, 
 that we would share our life equally, its 
 
342 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 hardships and its joys, and have one equal 
 rule for each." 
 
 " Well ? said Tom. What was happen 
 ing seemed to him a miracle, and one more 
 proof that in their mutual divination he and 
 Janet were made for each other. 
 
 " It seemed to me that it was the question 
 of the highway robber over again and that 
 was before I knew anything about highway 
 robbers Your money or your life ? The 
 world asks everybody that question, and 
 we can all choose, but almost everybody 
 chooses money. You and I, Tom, will 
 choose our life, and let the money go. You 
 shall never go back to that prison of an 
 office." 
 
 Tom was almost too much moved to 
 speak, but after a few minutes he managed 
 to inquire, quite coolly, " How do you pro 
 pose to work it practically ? 
 
 " Well," said Janet, " luckily I ve a lit 
 tle money of my own, from grandfather s es 
 tate. But if I hadn t I should go to work, 
 too, just like you, and earn as much as I 
 could, to go into the common fund, until we 
 could both stop work and begin to enjoy life 
 together, or, rather, until we could begin to 
 do the work we should each really choose to 
 
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE? 343 
 
 do. Of course there are fortunate people 
 who have that from the start ; lawyers are 
 often bound up in their work and would 
 rather do it than anything else in the world, 
 and doctors sometimes feel the same way, 
 and some teachers, and literary men and 
 artists of course. And I m told that some 
 business men really like their business, though 
 that seems impossible. But most men have 
 to do drudgery that they don t like, hard 
 work that they can t put their hearts into, 
 merely to pay the yearly expenses of living. 
 And as their money increases the expenses 
 of their families increase, and they have to 
 keep on in the treadmill, working harder and 
 harder, with never any stop, never any time 
 to do what they would really like to do, un 
 til they are old men, and life comes to an 
 end. And all this while thflr wives and 
 daughters, dressed in expensiV > and stylish 
 gowns, are attending fashionable meetings to 
 assert the rights of women and lament over 
 the cruel limitations and wrongs which men 
 put upon them. What I say is let them do 
 their duties first, their share of the work, 
 and talk about their rights afterward. So if 
 you work, I shall work, too, only it must be 
 work that our hearts are in. But I think we 
 
344 YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE 
 
 might have and enjoy our life for a while 
 and let the money go. I can get along with 
 out it if you can. I ve got $1,500 a year 
 to live on how much have you ? " 
 
 " Well, I suppose I ve saved in spite of 
 myself something between thirty and for 
 ty thousand dollars," said Tom. " Call it 
 roughly $1,500 a year, too that would only 
 make $3,000 in all. Could you keep house 
 on that, even ? You certainly couldn t have 
 horses, or furniture, or gowns, or " 
 
 " I don t want any of those things, and 
 I don t want to keep house," interrupted 
 Janet. " I don t want to settle down. I 
 hate settled people and I m never going to 
 settle myself. Three thousand dollars a year 
 is plenty of money to live very comfortably 
 on in Europe. We can do as we please and 
 dress as we please. We can become masters 
 of all the great languages French, German, 
 and Italian at least in the most delightful 
 way in the world, reading their greatest 
 writers, their Goethes and Dantes and Mo- 
 lieres, on the very ground where they wrote. 
 We can see the great pictures, and live in 
 the shadows of the most beautiful buildings 
 in the world. We can know charming peo 
 ple, artists, musicians, and writers, living 
 
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE? 345 
 
 simply but surrounded with beautiful things. 
 And we can live as they do, and every day 
 of life will be perfect, and we shall be growing 
 all the time, and learning, and shall have so 
 many things to enjoy that we can be spend 
 thrifts of enjoyment, and yet always have 
 more than enough left, because it is some 
 thing that increases trebly with use. Where 
 as if you stayed in the business, Tom, 
 we should give up all these things for 
 money. We should have a fine house in 
 town, and another in the country, and lots 
 of servants and quantities of clothes, and 
 give fine dinners, and be fat, and prosper 
 ous, and stupid, and bored to death. 
 . . . Ah, no, Tom, money costs too 
 much. You and I can t afford to be rich,, 
 We will live instead." 
 
MRS. BURNETT S 
 
 NOVELS AND STORIES 
 
 " Mrs. Burnett s characters are as veritable as 
 Thackeray s. " Richard Henry Stoddard. 
 
 A Lady of Quality . $1.50 | Vagabondia. A Love 
 
 His Grace of Os = 
 monde. Sequel to 
 "A Lady of Quality" 1.50 
 
 That Lasso* Lowrie s 
 
 Illustrated . . 1.25 
 
 Haworth s. Illus 
 trated 1.25 
 
 Through One Admin- Best of A1L A Mem 
 
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 A Fair Barbarian , 1.25 
 
 Story $1.25 
 
 Surly Tim, and Other 
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 Earlier Stories. First 
 
 and Second Series. 
 Each . . i 25 
 
 The One I Knew the 
 
 ory of the Mind of a 
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 Jose. Illustrated . i.oo 
 
 MRS, BURNETT S FAMOUS JUVENILES 
 
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 with illustrations by Birch, $1.25 
 
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 Two Little Pilgrims Progress. A Story of the City 
 
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STEVENSON S WORKS 
 
 Strange Case of Dr. 
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 The Vailima Letters. 
 
 With Portrait. 2 vols. 2.25 
 
 The Ebb-Tide . . . 1.25 
 
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 St. Ives. The Adven 
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 In the South Seas. 
 
 With Map .... 1.50 
 
 Weir of Hermiston . 1.50 
 
 Poems and Ballads. 
 
 With Portrait . . 1.50 
 Kidnapped. Being 
 Memoirs of the Ad 
 ventures of David 
 Balfour in the year 
 1751. Illustrated . 1.50 
 
 David Balfour. Being 
 Memoirs of his Ad 
 ventures at Home 
 and Abroad . . . 1.50 
 
 Treasure Island. With 
 
 Map i.oo 
 
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 12 full-page illustra 
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 The Master of Bal- 
 lantrae : A Winter s 
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 1.25 
 
 1.25 
 1.25 
 
 1.25 
 
 Prince Otto. A Ro 
 mance $1.00 
 
 The Merry Men, and 
 Other Tales . . . 
 
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 Island Nights Enter 
 tainments. Illus 
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 The Wrong Box . . 1.25 
 
 Across the Plains. 
 With other Memories 
 and Essays . . . 1.25 
 
 An Inland Voyage. 
 
 With Frontispiece . i.oo 
 
 Travels with a Don 
 key in the Cevennes i. oo 
 
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 ters. With Frontis 
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 Familiar Studies of 
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 Virginibus Puerisque, 
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 flempries and Por 
 traits 1.25 
 
 A Foot=Note to His 
 tory. Eight Years 
 of Trouble in Samoa 1.50 
 
 nemoir of Fleeming 
 Jenkin 1.25 
 
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FRANK R. STOCKTONS 
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 " There is no more thoroughly entertaining writer 
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 Boston Globe. 
 
 The Girl at Cobhurst $1.50 
 
 A Story=teller s 
 Pack. Illustrated . 1.50 
 
 Mrs. Cliff s Yacht. 
 
 Illustrated. . . . 1.50 
 
 The Adventures of 
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 A Chosen Few. Short 
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 Illustrated . . . . i 50 
 
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 1.25 
 
 1-25 
 
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 Tales Out of School. 
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 1.50 
 
 1.50 
 
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* 1J I 
 
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 25 
 25. 
 25 
 .00 
 .00 
 25 
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BOOKS BY 
 
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 John flarch, Southerner $1.50 
 
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HAROLD FREDERICKS 
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 Seth s Brother s Wife . . . . 1.50 
 
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BOOKS BY 
 
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 One need not wish for a better story of action than 
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 ings by eye-witnesses . . . . $1.50 
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 GIBSON 1.25 
 
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BOOKS BY J. M, BARRIE 
 
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 Sentimental Tommy. The Story of His 
 Boyhood. Illustrated by WILLIAM HATH- 
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 Margaret Ogilvy. By Her Son. With 
 
 etched portrait . . . . . 1.25 
 
 A Window in Thrums. Cameo Edition. 
 
 With an etched frontispiece . . . 1.25 
 
 Auld Licht Idylls. Cameo Edition. With 
 
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NOVELS AND STORIES 
 
 BY 
 
 E. W. HORNUNG 
 
 44 Mr. Hornung has certainly earned the right to 
 be called the Bret Harte of Australia." 
 
 Boston Herald. 
 
 " The machinery of Mr. II or tiling s fiction, once 
 in motion, is productive of capital and vivid story 
 telling stories that hold the interest steadily and 
 never halt for lack of quickening incident and 
 lively adventure " Literature. 
 
 The Amateur Cracksman . . . $1-25 
 
 Some Persons Unknown . . . 1.25 
 
 Young Blood 1.25 
 
 My Lord Duke 1.25 
 
 The Rogue s March. A Romance . . 1.50 
 A Bride from the Bush. [Ivory Series.] .75 
 Irralie s Bushranger. A Story of Aus 
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NOVELS AND STORIES BY "Q" 
 
 (A. T. QUILLER-COUCH) 
 
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 in many respects, to give Mr. A. T. Quiller -Couch 
 the first position" New York Times. 
 
 He is highly esteemed as among the most imagi 
 native and poetic of the late English novelists." 
 
 Philadelphia Public Ledger. 
 
 The Splendid Spur. Being Memoirs of the Ad 
 ventures of Mr. John Marvel, a servant of His 
 Late Majesty King Charles I., in the years 
 1642-43 
 
 I Saw Three Ships, and Other Winter Tales . 
 Dead Man s Rock. A Romance . 
 
 $1.25 
 1.25 
 1.25 
 
 1.25 
 1.25 
 
 1.25 
 1.25 
 1.25 
 1.25 
 
 The above nine volumes are issued in a new uniform edition. 
 The Set, g vols., in a box . . . $11.00 
 
 The Delectable Duchy. 
 
 Sketches 
 
 The Blue Pavilions. 
 
 Noughts and Crosses. 
 
 Sketches 
 
 Stories, Studies and 
 
 Stories, Studies and 
 
 Wandering Heath. Stories, Studies and Sketches 
 
 Adventures in Criticism 
 
 The Astonishing History of Troy Town . 
 
 la. A Love Story. [Ivory Series] 
 
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mm 
 
 YC i 02578