At the same time, as a matter of betting, I would have laid long odds against McGregor.
To my mind it is nearly as difficult to be consistently selfish as to be absolutely unselfish.

I had, at this crisis, every inducement to concentrate all my efforts on myself, but I could not get Jones out of my head.

It was certainly improbable that Jones would try to resist the marauding party; but neither the colonel nor his chosen band were likely to be scrupulous, and it was impossible not to see that Jones might get a bullet through his head; indeed, I fancied such a step would rather commend itself to the colonel, as giving a _bona fide_ look to the affair.

Jones had often been a cause of great inconvenience to me, but I didn't wish to have his death on my conscience, so I was very glad when I happened to meet him on my way back from the Golden House, and seized the opportunity of giving him a friendly hint.
I took him and set him down beside me on a bench in the Piazza.
I was in no way disturbed by the curious glances of three soldiers who were evidently charged to keep an eye on the bank and my dealings with it.
I began by pledging Jones to absolute secrecy, and then I intimated to him, in a roundabout way, that the colonel and I were both very apprehensive of an attack on the bank.
"The town," I said, "is in a most unsettled condition, and many dangerous characters are about.

Under these circumstances I have felt compelled to leave the defense of our property in the hands of the Government.