"
My earnest, positive manner had its effect upon Slade. He knew
that what I asserted, the whole history of Green's intercourse
with young Hammond would prove; and he had, moreover, the guilty
consciousness of being a party to the young man's ruin. His eyes
cowered beneath the steady gaze I fixed upon him. I thought of him
as one implicated in the murder, and my thoughts must have been
visible in my face.
"One murder will not justify another," said he.
"There is no justification for murder on any plea," was my
response.
"And yet, if these infuriated men find Green, they will murder
him."
"I hope not. Indignation at a horrible crime has fearfully excited
the people. But I think their sense of justice is strong enough to
prevent the consequences you apprehend."
"I would not like to be in Green's shoes," said the landlord, with
an uneasy movement.
I looked him closely in the face. It was the punishment of the
man's crime that seemed so fearful in his eyes; not the crime
itself. Alas! how the corrupting traffic had debased him.
My words were so little relished by Slade, that he found some
ready excuse to leave me. I saw little more of him during the day.
As evening began to fall, the gambler's unsuccessful pursuers, one
after another, found their way to the tavern, and by the time
night had fairly closed in, the bar-room was crowded with excited
and angry men, chafing over their disappointment, and loud in
their threats of vengeance.
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