“Yes, I know that, but it hurts one to think it had to be—that all his splendid gifts and capabilities should end like this, and that we are forced to see it is best. He might have done so much.”
“And instead he became a miscreant. I reckon there was a lack in him somewhere.”
“Yes, there was a great lack in him somewhere.”
They were silent for a time. She broke it to ask about York Neil.
“You wouldn’t send him to prison after doing what he did, would you?”
“Meaning what?”
“You say yourself he helped you against the other outlaws. Then he showed you where to start in finding the buried money. He isn’t a bad man. You know how he stood by me when I was a prisoner,” she pleaded.
He nodded. “That goes a long way with me, Miss Mackenzie. The governor is a right good friend of mine. I meant to ask him for a pardon. I reckon Neil means to live straight from now on. He promised Leroy he would. He’s only a wild cow-puncher gone wrong, and now he’s haided right he’ll pull up and walk the narrow trail.”
“But can you save him from the penitentiary?”
Collins smiled. “He saved me the trouble. Coming through the Cañon Del Oro in the night, he ducked. I reckon he’s in Mexico now.”