I had to lie to him," said William Harris. "There was no other way out
of it. I knew it was the only means by which I could get him out of
the country. If he stayed here they would nab him and put him in the
penitentiary in spite of the very devil himself. It is all very well to
talk about even-eyed justice and all that rot, but a young man in
that kind of a position would have about as much show as a snowball in
Vesuvius. The best thing to do was to put him over the pond, and the
next thing was to come here. I did both, now what is to be done?"
"It is evident," said Randolph Mason, "that the young man is the victim
of one of our numerous gangs of train robbers, and it is quite as
evident that it is utterly impossible to recover the stolen money. The
thing to be done is to shift the loss."
"Shift the loss, sir," echoed the cattle-man; "I don't believe that I
quite catch your meaning."
"Sir," said Mason, "the law of self-preservation is the great law
governing the actions of men. All other considerations are of a
secondary nature. The selfish interest is the great motive power. It is
the natural instinct to seek vicarious atonement. Men do not bear a hurt
if the hurt can be placed upon another. It is a bitter law, but it is,
nevertheless, a law as fixed as gravity."
"I see," said the commission merchant; "but how is this loss to be
shifted on any one? The money is gone for good; there is no way to get
it back, and there is no means by which we can switch the responsibility
to the shoulders of any other person. The money was placed in Carper
Harris's custody, he was instructed to use great care in order to
prevent any possible loss. He left Baltimore with it. The story of his
robbery would only render him ridiculous if it were urged in his behalf.
He alone is responsible for the money; there is no way to shift it."
"I said, sir," growled Mason, "that the loss must be shifted. What does
the responsibility matter, provided the burden of loss can be placed
upon other shoulders? How much money have you?"
"Only the five thousand dollars which I received from the sale of his
securities," answered the man. "The story which I told him about the
sixteen thousand was all a lie; I have scarcely a thousand dollars to my
name, all told."
Mason looked at the cattle-man and smiled grimly. "So far you have done
well," he said; "it seems that you must be the instrument through which
this cunning game of Fate is to be blocked. You are the strong one;
therefore the burden must fall on your shoulders. Are you ready to bear
the brunt of this battle?"
"I am," said the man, quietly; "the boy must be saved if I have to go to
Sing Sing for the next twenty years."