The laugh that instinctively broke from Clarence's lips was so sincere and unaffected that the man was disconcerted, and at last joined in it, a little shamefacedly.

The grotesque blunder of being taken as a fugitive from justice relieved Clarence's mind from its acute tension,--he was momentarily diverted,--and it was not until the boatman had departed, and he was again alone, that it seemed to have any collateral significance.

Then an uneasy recollection of Susy's threat that she had the power to put his wife in Fort Alcatraz came across him.
Could she have already warned the municipal authorities and this man?
But he quickly remembered that any action from such a warning could only have been taken by the United States Marshal, and not by a civic official, and dismissed the idea.
Nevertheless, when the stage with its half-spent lamps still burning dimly against the morning light swept round the curve and rolled heavily up to the rude shanty which served as coach-office, he became watchful.
A single yawning individual in its doorway received a few letters and parcels, but Clarence was evidently the ONLY waiting passenger.

Any hope that he might have entertained that his mysterious predecessor would emerge from some seclusion at that moment was disappointed.

As he entered the coach he made a rapid survey of his fellow-travelers, but satisfied himself that the stranger was not among them.