What a terrible and inexcusable madness had possessed him, Kent realized the instant he rose from Mercer's prostrate body.

Never had his brain flamed to that madness before.

He believed at first that he had killed Mercer.

It was neither pity nor regret that brought him to his senses.

Mercer, a coward and a traitor, a sneak of the lowest type, had no excuse for living.