to various groups, there was always one
wind-tanned, vivid face, one brawny, towering form that seemed to demand
individual consideration. The man who was listed on the records as Ben
Kinney was distinctly an individual. He some way failed to classify
among the groups of his fellows. Because he had been sent out to-day
with the road gang the two armed guards had an interesting subject of
conversation.

In the first place he habitually did two men's work. He did not do it
with any idea of trying to ingratiate himself with his keepers: no
inmate of the institution at Walla Walla made any such mistake as that.
He did it purely because he could not tone down his mighty strength and
energy to stay even with his fellows. To-day Sprigley, the guard in
first command of the gang, had placed him opposite Judy, the burly
negro, but the latter was being driven straight toward absolute
exhaustion. Yet Kinney at least knew how to subdue and direct the
pouring fountain of his vitality and energy, for the robust blows of his
pick fell with the regularity of a tireless machine. It was as if a wild
stallion, off the plains, had been trained to draw the plow. His great
muscles moved with marvelous precision; but for all the monotony and
rhythm of his motions he conveyed no image of stolidity and dullness.

He was a great, dark man, his skin darkly brown from exposure; his
straight hair showed almost coal black in spite of the fact that it had
but recently been clipped close; his eyebrows were similarly black; and
black hairs spread down his hands almost to the finger nails and
cropped up from his chest at his open throat. It was a mighty, deep,
full chest, the chest of a runner and a fighter, sustained by a strong,
flat abdomen and by powerful, sturdy legs. Yet physical might and
development were not all of Ben Kinney. The image conveyed was never one
of sheer brutality. For all their black hair, the large, brawny hands
were well-shaped and sensitive; he had a healthy, good-humored mouth
that could evidently, on occasion, be the seat of a most pleasant,
boyish smile. He had a straight, good nose, rather high cheek bones, and
a broad, brown forehead, straight rather than sloping swiftly like that
of the negro opposite. But none of his features, nor yet his brawny
form, caught and held the attention as did his vivid, dark-gray eyes.
They were deeply dark, even against his deeply tanned face, yet now and
then one caught distinct surface lig