“At Rocky Gulch. You were associated with a man named Thatcher. By the way is he living now?”

“No, he is not,” said Simpson, uneasily.

“How long has he been dead?”

“Eight years. He never came home from California.”

“How was that?”

“I suppose he was robbed.”

“And murdered?”

“Very probable. But you must excuse my speaking on this subject. It is painful to me.”

“I don’t wonder at it,” said Darius Darke, in a tone which was pointed and significant.

John Simpson scanned his face sharply.