"I was discharged finally, for forgetting orders--I was thinking of something else--then I commenced to pull myself together and determined to control myself. I held the job in Arizona almost a year, but the mill company busted; then I drifted down on to the Mexican National, when it was building, and got a job. A few months later, it came to my ears that one of our engineers, Billy Gardiner, was in one of their damnable prisons, for running over a Greaser, and I organized a relief expedition. I called on Gardiner, and talked over his trouble fully; he was in a loathsome dobie hole, full of vermin, and dark. As I sat talking to him, I noticed an old man, chained to the wall in a little entry on the other side of the room. His beard was grizzly white, long and tangled. He was hollow-cheeked and wild-eyed, and looked at me in a strange, fascinated way. "'What's he in for,' I whispered to Gardiner. "'Murdered his partner in a mining camp. Got caught in the act. He don't know it yet, but he's condemned to be shot next Friday--to-morrow. Poor devil, he's half crazy, anyhow.' "As I got up to go, the old man made a sharp hiss, and as I turned to look at him, he beckoned with his finger. I took a step or two nearer, and he asked, in an audible whisper: "'Mr. Hogg, don't you know me?' "I looked at him long and critically, and then said: "'No; I never saw you before.' "'Yes; that's so,' said he; 'but I have seen you, many times. You remember the Black Prince robbery?' "'Yes, indeed; then you are Sanson?' "'No; Rokesby.' "'Rokesby! My God, man, where's Rachel?' "'I thought so,' he muttered. 'Well, she's in England, but I'm here.' "'What part of England?' "'Sit down on that box, Mr. Hogg, and I will tell you something.' "'Is she married?' I asked eagerly. "'No, lad, she ain't, and what's more, she won't be till she marries you, so be easy there.' "Just here a pompous Mexican official strode in, stepped up in front of the old man and read something in Spanish. "'What in hell did he say?' asked the prisoner of Gardiner. "'Something about sentence, pardner.' "'Well, it's time they was doing something; did he say when it was?' "'To-morrow.' "'Good enough; I'm dead sick o' this.' "'Can't I do anything for you, Mr. Rokesby--for Rachel's sake?' "'No--yes, you can, too, young man; you can grant me a pardon for a worse crime nor murder, if you will--for--for Rachel's sake." "'It's granted then.' "'Good! that gives me heart. Now, Mr. Hogg, to business, it was me that robbed the Black Prince mine. I took every last cent there was, and I used you and Rachel to do the work for me and take the blame if caught. Sanson was honest enough, I fired the mill myself. "'It was me that sent Rachel to you; I admired your face, as you rode by the claim every day on your engine. I knew you had nerve. If you and Rachel hadn't fallen in love with one another, I'd 'a lost though; but I won.