All this seemed logical, but where find the man to storm the heart of Nelly and dazzle her bright, clever eyes?  His own rags had made him shrug his shoulders; and it was the thought of clothes which had made him fasten his attention so closely on the man of the linen suit in Lebrun’s.  Donnegan with money, with well-fitted clothes, and with a few notorious escapades behind him—­yes, Donnegan with such a flying start might flutter the heart of Nelly Lebrun for a moment.  But he must have the money, the clothes, and then he must deliberately set out to startle The Corner, make himself a public figure, talked of, pointed at, known, feared, respected, and even loved by at least a few.  He must accomplish all these things beginning at a literal zero.

It was the impossible nature of this that tempted Donnegan.  But the paradoxical picture of the ragged skulker in Milligan’s actually sitting at the same table with Nelly Lebrun and receiving her smiles stayed with him.  He intended to rise, literally Phoenixlike, out of ashes.  And the next morning, in the red time of the dawn, he sat drinking the coffee which George Washington Green had made for him and considering the details of the problem.  Clothes, which had been a main obstacle, were now accounted for, since, as he had suspected, the packs of Godwin contained a luxurious wardrobe of considerable compass.  At that moment, for instance, Donnegan was wrapped in a dressing gown of padded silk and his feet were encased in slippers.

But clothes were the least part of his worries.  To startle The Corner, and thereby make himself attractive in the eyes of Nelly Lebrun, overshadowing Jack Landis—­that was the thing!  But to startle The Corner, where gold strikes were events of every twenty-four hours, just now—­where robberies were common gossip, and where the killings now averaged nearly three a day—­to startle The Corner was like trying to startle the theatrical world with a sensational play.  Indeed, this parallel could have been pursued, for Donnegan was the nameless actor and the mountain desert was the stage on which he intended to become a headliner.  No wonder, then, that his lean face was compressed in thought.  Yet no one could have guessed it by his conversation.  At the moment he was interrupted, his talk ran somewhat as follows.

“George, Godwin taught you how to make coffee?”

“Yes, sir,” from George.  Since the night before he had appeared totally subdued.  Never once did he venture a comment.  And ever Donnegan was conscious of big, bright eyes watching him in a reverent fear not untinged by superstition.  Once, in the middle of the night, he had wakened and seen the vast shadow of George’s form leaning over the sack of money.  Murder by stealth in the dark had been in the giant’s mind, no doubt.  But when, after that, he came and leaned over Donnegan’s bunk, the master closed his eyes and kept on breathing regularly, and finally George returned to his own place—­softly as a gigantic cat.  Even in the master’s sleep he found something to be dreaded, and Donnegan knew that he could now trust the fellow through anything.  In the morning, at the first touch of light, he had gone to the stores and collected provisions.  And a comfortable breakfast followed.