; and his conviction might make it easier to convict Darcy. Mat
Bailey and Mamie Slocum were important witnesses for the State; and
Collins himself, poor debauchee though he was, was man enough to clear
Mamie of all suspicion. She freely told of her conversation with him
when he had recommended the gallantry of gentlemen of the road. And she
admitted that she had always been haunted by the suspicion that the
highwayman with whom Cummins had grappled might have been Collins, who
had so strangely disappeared after the robbery. No; she could not
identify him as the man who asked about Cummins' valise. She was not
sure about his voice. She was too much frightened to be sure of
anything.

As Collins seemed less interested in saving his own worthless life than
in establishing the innocence of Mamie Slocum, he was promptly
convicted. The judge sentenced him to be hanged on Friday, Feb. 1, 1884.

Sheriff Carter could not see why, if Collins was guilty, Darcy was not.
But good souls from Union City showed how exemplary had been the life of
their brother since he came among them, and the lawyer whom these good
people employed pointed out the shame and disgrace that would be
suffered by a worthy family if one bearing the name of Darcy should die
upon the scaffold. It is strange that in such cases the lawyers on the
other side do not show that the shame and disgrace come with the
commission of the crime, and that honest punishment endured for the same
is the one means left the criminal to atone for the injury he has done
the good name of his family.

There was no doubt as to Darcy's guilt; and he was man enough to have
paid the extreme penalty willingly. For thirty years he lived the
monotonous round of prison life, becoming more and more like a dumb
animal, and paroled at last in his old age little better than an
automaton--the qualities of daring, thrift, and religious enthusiasm
long since dead and gone.

Throughout the trial of both men, Henry Francis was an interested
spectator. The court-room seemed to have a fascination for him, although
he was now a rich man with important demands upon his time. It was
whispered about that the Pennsylvanians had spent a hundred thousand
dollars hunting the criminals down; and some people were fanciful enough
to see in Henry Francis the highwaymen's Nemesis. He made a very
dignified Nemesis indeed. He looked grave and thoughtful, and his newly
acquired wealth lent dignity to his refined