"It was when I was returning to the gold find of Andrew Seldon that I came upon Black-heart Bill's camp, and, finding in him Hugh Mayhew, I killed him. My intention was to take Andrew Seldon's name, dig his gold, and, to ease my conscience, give half to his family.
"I imitated his writing and wrote to his lawyer and best friend, and little daughter, for his wife was dead, as letters told me which he had with him. In answer, at W—— I learned that I, as Andrew Seldon, dared not return home, that my daughter Celeste was dead, and my fortune gone.
"When Celeste Seldon was captured, from her own lips I learned as she told the outlaw lieutenant, that all had been a plot to keep her father away, and, discovering the plot, she had come out here to find him, after the messenger had failed to write home to her later than on his arrival in W——.
"Now, you know, Doctor Powell, why I was seeking Buffalo Bill, and it is my intention to seek that young girl, tell her all, and give her one-half of the fortune in gold I have found, through her father's maps and directions, in the Grand Cañon."
"And then?"
"I suppose I shall drift about the world, sir, unknown, leading an aimless life, or, perhaps, return to my gold-digging again."
"No, Weston, such must not be your fate, for I shall take your case in hand and prove your innocence of robbing that bank and killing the watchman, for I believe your story, and then with Sergeant Mayhew's character proven, you can readily secure pardon for taking his life as you did in self-defense."
"Heaven bless you, Surgeon Powell!"
"I only make one request, Weston."
"Yes, sir."