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Next morning news came that Martin Tyrer had been taken very bad, and that the doctor had a poor opinion of him. When Doctor Craddock, indeed, called later in the day to see Bob Wainwright, he confirmed the report with a sigh and a shake of the head: "I am afraid the poor old fellow has done for himself," he said gravely. "It is astonishing how obstinate some of these people are.
Money would simply accumulate in the period of stagnation to be thrown into the mill with greater abandon than before by the fools who stood around waiting for the show to resume. And the spectacle of seeing Seth Craddock drive this simpleton clear over the edge of the earth would be a diversion that would compensate for many empty days. That alone would be a thing worth waiting for, they said.
Conboy came after him, voice lowered almost to a whisper as he spoke, eyes turning about as if he expected a spy to bob up behind his counter. "I heard it passed around late last night that Craddock was comin' back." "Wasn't he expected to?" Morgan inquired, indifferently, wholly undisturbed.
Morgan's hat cast a shadow over half his face, making it as stern as a Covenanter's portrait. His eyes were on the bar, where his great hand turned and turned the glass, as if his mind were withdrawn a thousand leagues from the noisy scene about him. But for all that apparently wrapt and self-centered contemplation, Morgan knew the moment when Seth Craddock looked his direction and discovered him.
"Where did you put up?" echoed Harry, loosening his riding-jacket to give his knife and fork freer play. "I spent a week at Tom Coston's and a week at Craddock. Another lump of sugar, Todd." The boy laughed gently: "Lazy Tom's?" "Lazy Tom's and the best-hearted fellow in the world. They're going to make him a judge, they say and " " What of peach brandy? No cream in mine, Todd."
Dodge was evidently prepared to stand up for the average corpse of the Craddock district against all competitors. "This is a very healthy neighbourhood, I suppose," observed Mrs. Temperley, seemingly by way of supplying an explanation of the proud fact. "Lord bless you, as healthy as any place in the kingdom. There wasn't one in ten as was ill when he died, as one may say."
I will do what I can to make myself clear in the face of terrible difficulties. You must bear with me a little. When a man is rapidly losing his own identity, he naturally finds a difficulty in expressing himself. I will make it perfectly plain in a minute, when once I get my grip upon the story. Let me see where am I? I wish I knew. Ah, I have it! Dead self! Egbert Craddock Cummins!
The window was too high in the wall for anybody on the outside to see in, or for Craddock, tall as he was, to see anything out of it but the sky. Public interest had fallen away since he was neither to be shipped out nor hanged, only locked up like a whisky thief.
Nobody saw exactly how he accomplished it, but the next moment Morgan stepped back from the city marshal, that officer's revolver in his hand. "Mr. Craddock," he said, in calm, advisory way, "I expect to stay around this part of the country some little time, and I'll be obliged to come to Ascalon once in a while.
The voice ceased. There was a convulsion at her throat. Nothing stirred in the room. From the street below came the sound of a passing car and a boy's voice, "Morning papers." Mogley was weeping. The dead woman's hand clutched the paper. Her face wore a smile. This is no fable; it is the hardest kind of fact. I met Craddock not more than a week ago. His inebriety prevented his recognizing me.
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