He had not tested his physical strength.

And in the present moment, fanned by his unbounded optimism, the thought came to him that perhaps it was good luck and not bad that had thrown Mercer in his way.

For with Fingers behind him now, his chances for a clean get-away were better.

He would not be taking a hazardous leap chanced on the immediate smiles of fortune.

He would be going deliberately, prepared.
He blessed the man who had been known as Dirty Fingers, but whom he could not think of now in the terms of that name.