Donnegan repeated slowly: "Your daughter loves this chap?"

The colonel allowed his glance to narrow, and he could do this the more
safely because at this moment Donnegan's eyes were wandering into the
distance. In that unguarded second Donnegan was defenseless and the
colonel read something that set him beaming.

"She loves him, of course," he said, "and he is breaking her heart with
his selfishness."

"He is breaking her heart?" echoed Donnegan.

The colonel raised his hand and stroked his enormous chin. Decidedly he
believed that things were getting on very well.

"This is the position," he declared. "Jack Landis was threatened by the
wretch Lester, and shot him down. But Lester was not single-handed. He
belongs to a wild crew, led by a mysterious fellow of whom no one knows
very much, a deadly fighter, it is said, and a keen organizer and
handler of men. Red-haired, wild, smooth. A bundle of contradictions.
They call him Lord Nick because he has the pride of a nobleman and the
cunning of the devil. He has gathered a few chosen spirits and cool
fighters--the Pedlar, Joe Rix, Harry Masters--all celebrated names in
the cattle country.

"They worship Lord Nick partly because he is a genius of crime and
partly because he understands how to guide them so that they may rob and
even kill with impunity. His peculiarity is his ability to keep within
the bounds of the law. If he commits a robbery he always first
establishes marvelous alibis and throws the blame toward someone else;