"Shall I fetch a doctor?"
"No use. Pray God have mercy on my sinful soul!"
These were the last words he uttered, for though his lips continued to move at intervals for some minutes, no coherent sound came from them.
The sheriff, who was a man named Dunbarton, happened to be passing at the time, and, hearing the shots, thought it his business to enter the house. He saw the blood-stained corpse of Smithers.
"What's this?" he exclaimed.
"I am a detective, with a warrant for this man's arrest for robbing his employers in New York," replied Berghausen, "and I killed him in self-defense."
"Well," said the sheriff, "if you'll take my advice, you'll leave town and get back mighty quick."
"What for?"
"The boys liked Smithers, and knew his pard well; they might take it into their heads to lay you out."
"That's so," answered the detective.