Sargent made a step forward, and grasped the waiting hand.
"Can you ever forgive me for taking your life?" he murmured unsteadily, a spasm of suffering contracting his features.
For a moment the ruffian looked down at him, puzzled, then gave a quick, coarse laugh.
"Is that what's hurting you? Well—it ain't hurting you half as bad as it's hurting me—nohow. You've done me heaps of good—youngster." He still held Sargent's hand in his iron grip, "and some day you're goin' to be a big man. I could tell that by the sound in your voice when you was speaking to-day. That's what got under my skin. It's jest as sweet as a woman's and then again it's as hard as the devil's. Damn if I wouldn't like to hear you make another speech!" He laughed grimly. "But look here," with a quick movement and a glance at the pistol. "I sent for you to tell you somethin'. Sit down thar in that chair. I'm goin' to stand up—tired of sittin' down anyway."
The huge man swung one leg over the end of the table, and looked down into the face of the lawyer with eyes softened by an expression of bygone tenderness—the look Sargent had been searching for so long. It thrilled him now as he saw it so clearly.
"As I said—you're goin' to be a big man some day, and you wants to begin right now. You don't want to hurt people, sonny—I can see that in your face."
Sargent's lips opened to answer, but no words came. It was when he nodded that the big man continued. "So make up your mind right now that you ain't goin' to send any more men to the gallows. Send 'em to prison for life—that's all right—that gives 'em a chance to show people if there's anything good in 'em. But when you kills 'em you cuts off all their chances of doin' better. Ain't I right?"
Again Sargent nodded silently.
"Now, take me; I never knowed until to-day that I could have lived the right sort of life like any other man. I say I never even thought it till you told me. And you jest went and opened it up to me in sich a way that I couldn't help seein' whar I could have done a whole heap better. You kept makin' me wish I had one chance to show I could do what was right,—and now it's come—it's come." He swung his leg from the table and walked to the window. "They say that spot thar is where they're goin' to string me up. But they ain't—they're goin' to be mightily disappointed. Jacob Phelps ain't goin' to have his neck broke by no rope. D'you hear that? Is you listenin' to me?"
Sargent rose in amazement. One step, and he was beside Phelps. "How did you know?" he gasped. "No one could have suspected it. I only decided a few minutes before I came here."