atever his escort or his
clerk might do.

But notwithstanding all this he seemed quite content to leave this large
sum of money in the hands of those sent to him, not to have the custody
of his funds, but to guard him from violence and robbery. On the very
morning of the day the theft was committed he had found fault with the
sergeant for leaving the money in the stage while he took breakfast, and
had said to him that he (the sergeant) ought to have brought it in with
him. He here furnishes his own definition of the kind of care which
should have been taken of the money--the sergeant "ought to have brought
it in with him;" and this suggests the idea that it would have been
quite consistent with his duty, and perhaps not much beneath his
dignity, if he had taken it in himself. (Chief Paymaster Terrell, in a
letter favoring leniency, states that the coin could not have weighed
less than 15 pounds.)

It must certainly be conceded that what then took place plainly warned
him that to insure the safety of this money he must either take personal
charge of it or he must at least be sure that those to whom he
surrendered it were watchful and vigilant. And yet when, a few hours
later, on the same day, upon arriving at Antelope Springs, he was
informed by the sergeant that he did not propose to take dinner there,
the paymaster almost casually said to him, "Then you stay at the stage,"
and he himself went to a room at the station to warm himself. When, as
he went from there to the dining room, he passed the stage and saw no
one near it except a stock tender, a very conservative idea of duty and
care would have induced him to stop at the stage and ascertain the
condition of affairs. If he had done so, he probably would have found
the money there, and could have taken it in with him or watched it until
some of his party came out from dinner. Instead of doing this, he
himself went to the dining room, and indicated his surprise at seeing
the sergeant there by looking at him sharply. However, as he was just
eating his pie, nothing was said.

It is not improbable that the thief waited for the clerk and escort, and
lastly the paymaster himself, to enter the dining room before venturing
to take, entirely unmolested, the valise containing the money. When it
is considered that after finishing his pie the sergeant came out to
the stage so nearly the exact moment of the theft that, though badly
mounted, he was able to approach near enough i