But the joy was short-lived.

No such hope in this world for Bent Wade! This coincidence, however, left him with a strange, prophetic sense in his soul of a tragedy coming to White Slides Ranch.
Wade possessed some power of divination, some strange gift to pierce the veil of the future.

But he could not exercise this power at will; it came involuntarily, like a messenger of trouble in the dark night.
Moreover, he had never yet been able to draw away from the fascination of this knowledge.

It lured him on.

Always his decision had been to go on, to meet this boding circumstance, or to remain and meet it, in the hope that he might take some one's burden upon his shoulders.