"Nothing more can be done for him now." The pressing circle of men hemming us in fell back silently, reverently, the sound of their voices sinking into a subdued murmur.
It had all occurred so suddenly, so unexpectedly, that even these witnesses could scarcely grasp the truth.

They were dazed, leaderless, struggling to restrain themselves.

As I stood there, almost unconscious of their presence, still staring down at that upturned face, now appearing manly and patrician in the strange dignity of its death mask, a mad burst of anger swept me, a fierce yearning for revenge--a feeling that this was no less a murder because Nature had struck the blow.

With hot words of reproach upon my lips I gazed across toward where Kirby had been standing a moment before.

The gambler was no longer there--his place was vacant.
"Where is Kirby ?" I asked, incredulous of his sudden disappearance.
For a moment no one answered; then a voice in the crowd croaked hoarsely: "He just slipped out through that after door to the deck--him and Bill Carver." "And the stakes ?" Another answered in a thin, piping treble.
"I reckon them two cusses took along the most ov it.