"This is the possible solution," went on the colonel. "Jack Landis must be drawn away from the influence of this Nelly Lebrun. He must be brought back to us and shown his folly both as regards the adventuress and Lord Nick; for so long as Nelly has a hold on him, just so long Lord Nick will have his hand in Jack's pocket. You see how beautifully their plans and their work dovetail? How, therefore, am I to draw him from Nelly? There is only one way: send my daughter to the camp--send Lou to The Corner and let one glimpse of her beauty turn the shabby prettiness of this woman to a shadow! Lou is my last hope!" At this Donnegan wakened. His sneer was not a pleasant thing to see. "Send her to a new mining camp. Colonel Macon, you have the gambling spirit; you are willing to take great chances!" "So! So!" murmured the colonel, a little taken aback. "But I should never send her except with an adequate protector." "An adequate protector even against these celebrated gunmen who run the camp as you have already admitted?" "An adequate protector--you are the man!" Donnegan shivered. "I? I take your daughter to the camp and play her against Nelly Lebrun to win back Jack Landis? Is that the scheme?" "It is." "Ah," murmured Donnegan. And he got up and began to walk the room, white-faced; the colonel watched him in a silent agony of anxiety. "She truly loves this Landis?" asked Donnegan, swallowing. "A love that has grown out of their long intimacy together since they were children." "Bah! Calf love! Let the fellow go and she will forget him. Hearts are not broken in these days by disappointments in love affairs." The colonel writhed in his chair. "But Lou--you do not know her heart!" he suggested. "If you looked closely at her you would have seen that she is pale. She does not suspect the truth, but I think she is wasting away because Jack hasn't written for weeks." He saw Donnegan wince under the whip. "It is true," murmured the wanderer. "She is not like others, heaven knows!" He turned. "And what if I fail to bring over Jack Landis with the sight of Lou?" The colonel relaxed; the great crisis was past and Donnegan would undertake the journey. "In that case, my dear lad, there is an expedient so simple that you astonish me by not perceiving it. If there is no way to wean Landis away from the woman, then get him alone and shoot him through the heart. In that way you remove from the life of Lou a man unworthy of her and you also make the mines come to the heir of Jack Landis--namely, myself. And in the latter case, Mr. Donnegan, be sure--oh, be sure that I should not forget who brought the mines into my hands!" 10