Tom looked about him in horror, expecting to see the assassin. But there was no one who looked likely to commit the deed. No one thought of suspecting a decrepit and infirm old beggar, who tottered slowly away from the wharf with head bowed down.
“The traitor is punished! We are avenged!” he muttered. “Now I am the captain!”
But Alonzo’s triumph was premature. He had been seen in the act of firing the pistol. He was arrested, and identified as a member of the famous band that had been the scourge of the interior. He was tried, convicted and executed within the space of one month. So the captain was revenged, and the band, now without a head, was speedily disbanded.
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TOM WAS very much shocked at the tragical fate of his companion. Though he had been an outlaw and a chief of a noted gang of robbers, it had been his purpose to break away from his evil life and his companions in crime, and to lead hence-forth a blameless life.
The chance had been taken from him. His presentiments of evil had been verified, and he had been summoned without other warning into the presence of his Maker.
As he sunk upon the deck, he was surrounded by a crowd of passengers.
“Who did this?” exclaimed the captain, naturally turning to Tom for information.
“Yes, sir, a little. I made his acquaintance while on the way to the mines.”
“It was not his real name. He told me he had enemies from whom he feared injury. Therefore he concealed his real name.”
“You think the shot was fired by one of the enemies of whom he stood in fear?”
The question arose what disposition to make of the money left by the murdered man. Eight hundred dollars in gold were found in his possession, but this question was solved by a paper found in his pocket-book.
“Should anything happen to me, which is quite possible, I desire that whatever property I leave may be given to my young friend and fellow-voyager, known as Thomas Temple.”
“It seems you are his heir,” said the captain, when the examination was over.
“Yes. Probably the gentleman had few friends and took a fancy to you. I suppose there need be no formalities, except to give you the property at once.”
This decision of the captain was approved by the passengers, and Tom found himself unexpectedly rich. But he felt that he could not consent to retain the money for his own use, except, indeed, a sum equal to that of which he had been robbed. It was stolen property, and he could not conscientiously retain it. He resolved on reaching New York to give it to some charitable association, where it might be a public benefit.