f it were possible to get down the river in a boat to the steamer, he
thought, there would of course be a chance of bringing Purvis back
before it was light; but if he did that he would have to start within
the hour. The nights were short.

And then, again, he would be compounding a felony, though in the case
of brothers such a law was generally put aside, whatever the results
might be.

There was very little chance of an escape. Every one's hand was
against Purvis now, and there was the vaguest possibility that he could
get away to England. The heir to Bowshott would be doing his time in
prison, and that, after all, was the right place for him--or he might
be hanged.

And then he, Peter, was the next heir. That was the _crux_ of the
whole thing--he, Peter Ogilvie, was the next heir. If anything were to
happen to his brother he would inherit everything.

But that, again, was an absurdity. A man in prison, for instance,
would not be the inheritor of anything. No, his brother must take his
chance down there on the steamer. He had been in tight places before
now, and no one knew better how to get out of them. He had some money
at his command. Let things take their chance. Yet if Purvis did not
inherit, he, Peter, was the next heir.

That was the thought that knocked at him to the exclusion of nearly
everything else: he would benefit by his brother's death. Bowshott
would be his, and the place in the Highlands, and Jane and he could be
married.

He paused for a moment in his feverish survey of events. To think of
Jane was to have before one's mind a picture of something absolutely
fair and straightforward. A high standard of honour was not difficult
to her; it came as naturally as speaking in a well-bred manner, or
walking with that air of grace and distinction which was characteristic
of her. Such women do not need to preach, and seldom do so. Their
lives suggest a torch held high above the common mirk of life. Peter
had never imagined for a moment that he was in the least degree good
enough for her; but, all the same, he meant to fight for all that he
was worth for every single good thing that he could get for her.

... His brother even had a son. His nephew was in the house now.
Peter laughed out loud. The boy had a Spanish mother; but if there
ever had been a marriage between Purvis and her it could easily be set
aside. Purvis had been married several times, or not at all. Dunbar
thought th