Page:Melville Davisson Post--The Man of Last Resort.djvu/50

26 dismal fireflies. Then he crossed to the freight train upon which he was to return and climbed up into the cab with the driver.

“What time shall we get in?” he asked.

“By the top of the night, Governor, if we have luck,” answered the driver, pulling open the throttle.

The engine snorted and pounded along in the dark like some huge beast. The Governor sat in the cab window and looked out. The night air was sweet and cool, his face was hot. Two hours before he had decided what he should do, and dismissed the matter; but new and powerful elements had arisen and ordered him to rehear and decide anew.

Ambercrombie Hergan had lost and wasted the money of the State. There was now a deficit in his accounts of some fifty thousand dollars. There was no way by which this loss could be met unless Randal should pay it, and to do this would take everything he had on earth. It would mean the sacrifice of his mining stock, which, if held, promised great returns. It would be ruin, utter ruin, to make good the loss; yet the gambler, although a