"Duncan has raised one man, I see," laughed Manning. "When I heard this story first, he had only killed one gambler in his fight over the cards."
"Well, I am telling you what Duncan told me," answered King.
"That's all right," said Manning quietly, "but suppose you go ahead and tell us what he told you about robbing the Geneva bank."
The cool assurance of the detective, and the easy assumption with which he stated his conclusions, so disconcerted King, that he was speechless for a few moments. Recovering himself quickly, however, he answered doggedly:
"Well, I intended to tell you the whole story, and I was simply telling it in my own way."
"Go on, Mr. King," said Manning, "all I want is the truth, but the card story won't do."
"I guess it won't do me any good to tell you anything else but the truth," rejoined King. "Well, Tod told me about this shooting business before we started, and of course I believed it. I noticed, though, before we were away from the city very long, that there was something else on his mind, that made him very uneasy, and gave him a great deal of trouble. He was moody and silent for hours, and it was only when he drank a great deal that he was at all lively, or seemed like his old natural self. Finally, on the morning of the third day, I put the question fairly to him, and he then told me what he had done. He said he and two others had robbed a bank, and that he was making his way westward. He was resolved not to be captured, and said that no two men should take him alive. He then told me that he wanted me to take the team back to Des Moines, and that he would take the train at Grand Junction, and try to make his way to Manitoba. We parted company at the Junction, where Tod took the train for Sioux City. He paid all the expenses of the trip and offered to give me some of the money, but I refused to accept any, and told him what I had done was done simply for friendship."
"How much money did Duncan have at that time?" asked Manning.
"He had nearly four thousand dollars, I should judge," answered King.
"Did he say who assisted him in this robbery?"