I cut his muffled profanity short.
"That's quite enough of that, Tim," I said sharply, and was aware that he stared back at me, plainly perplexed by the change in my tone and manner.

"You are an officer of the law; so am I, and it is about time we were working together." He managed to release a gruff laugh.
"You--you damn bum; hell, that's a good joke--what'r yer givin' me now ?" "The exact truth; and it will be worth your while, my man, to brace up and listen.

I am going to give you a chance to redeem yourself--a last chance.

It will be a nice story to tell back in St.Louis that you helped to kidnap a wealthy young white woman, using your office as a cloak for the crime, and, besides that, killing two men to serve a river gambler.

Suppose I was to tell that sort of tale to Governor Clark, and give him the proofs--where would you land ?" He breathed hard, scarcely able to articulate, but decidedly sober.
"What--what's that?
Ain't you the fellar thet wus on the boat?
Who--who the devil are yer ?" "I am an officer in the army," I said gravely, determined to impress him first of all, "and I worked on that steamer merely to learn the facts in this case.