When that service had been read, and what had been Muldoon carried away to be made ready for the last sleep, only the minister and the tall Englishman were left in the bar-room.

“In the midst of life we are in death,” muttered Duncan.

“True,” rebuked the other “so live well the life which the Lord, thy God, hath provided thee.”  Will Duncan laughed aloud.

“It is too late, Man-o’-God!  There is no place in the world for a younger son.”  The minister had not heard.  He sprang toward the open window, calling: 

“Wait!  It is written — ‘Thou shalt not kill!’ Bring him in, like just and honest men, for a hearing.  He may be a horse thief and a murderer but you shall take the rope from his neck and he shall speak in his own defense before he goes to his Maker.”

So a hearing was given (although grudgingly, and with audible grumbling) by the friends of Muldoon across the table which had so lately been his bier, but in the end they took the Mexican out for the short-cut to retribution.

Two hours later, around the same table was solemnized the funeral service of Jim Muldoon.  The minister would not return for six weeks.  It must be held at once.  Gentleman Jack gave a suit of finest black broadcloth for a shroud. and the little bride, keeping one flower from her wedding bouquet, placed the rest in the dead man’s hands.  She kissed him softly on his forehead, whispering through her tears.  “For the ones at home who loved you,” and stood watching as six men carried him away to the tiny cemetery under the trees. on a hill.

Vesper services were over and the weary minister and his congregation had gone before Duncan found courage to open and read his letter.  His elder brother, heir to the title and great houses and landed estates of his family, had been killed in the hunting field and he, being next in line, was to come home to succeed to the position.

He, William — Duncan — Claibourne — Earl of — but no, his family name had never been told in California.

Portions of the services he had heard that day drifted through his mind:  “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. * * * We do sign him with the sign of the cross in token hereafter that he shall manfully fight against the sin, the world, and the devil; and to continue Christ’s faithful soldier unto his life’s end.”  So, the child starting on his earthly journey with the minister’s blessing and the backing of twenty god-fathers!

The holy old church service which he had heard at home in stately English cathedrals — the nuggets in the contribution plate — the radiant bride who had come across the plains to hear “Dearly Beloved, We are gathered together,” standing beside the man she loved.  The service for the dying:  “When we shall have served thee in our generation we may be gathered unto our Fathers, having the testimony of a good conscience, the confidence of a certain faith, in favor with Thee our God, and in perfect charity with the world.”  So, Jim Muldoon, cut down before his time, and his slayer out there in the darkness on the end of a rope.