You see, I knew something of his
ways, and I was aware of that part of the mechanism which he and all
such sharpers use consists of an elastic down the arm with a clip just
above the wrist. It is by means of this clip that they withdraw from
their hands the cards which they do not want, while they substitute
other cards from another hiding place. I reckoned on it being there,
and it was. He cursed me, slunk out of the saloon, and was hardly seen
again during the voyage. For once, at any rate, I got level with
Mister Sparrow MacCoy. "But he soon had his revenge upon me, for when it came to influencing
my brother he outweighed me every time. Edward had kept himself
straight in London for the first few weeks, and had done some business
with his American watches, until this villain came across his path once
more. I did my best, but the best was little enough. The next thing I
heard there had been a scandal at one of the Northumberland Avenue
hotels: a traveller had been fleeced of a large sum by two confederate
card-sharpers, and the matter was in the hands of Scotland Yard. The
first I learned of it was in the evening paper, and I was at once
certain that my brother and MacCoy were back at their old games. I
hurried at once to Edward's lodgings. They told me that he and a tall
gentleman (whom I recognized as MacCoy) had gone off together, and that
he had left the lodgings and taken his things with him. The landlady
had heard them give several directions to the cabman, ending with
Euston Station, and she had accidentally overheard the tall gentleman
saying something about Manchester. She believed that that was their
destination. "A glance at the time-table showed me that the most likely train was at
five, though there was another at 4:35 which they might have caught. I
had only time to get the later one, but found no sign of them either at
the depot or in the train. They must have gone on by the earlier one,
so I determined to follow them to Manchester and search for them in the
hotels there. One last appeal to my brother by all that he owed to my
mother might even now be the salvation of him. My nerves were
overstrung, and I lit a cigar to steady them. At that moment, just as
the train was moving off, the door of my compartment was flung open,
and there were MacCoy and my brother on the platform. "They were both disguised, and with good reason, for they knew that the
London police were after them. MacCoy had a great astrakhan collar
drawn up, so that only his eyes and nose were showing. My brother was
dressed like a woman, with a black veil half down his face, but of
course it did not deceive me for an instant, nor would it have done so
even if I had not known that he had often used such a dress before. I
started up, and as I did so MacCoy recognized me. He said something,
the conductor slammed the door, and they were shown into the next
compartment. I tried to stop the train so as to follow them, but the
wheels were already moving, and it was too late. "When we stopped at Willesden, I instantly changed my carriage. It
appears that I was not seen to do so, which is not surprising, as the
station was crowded with people. MacCoy, of course, was expecting me,
and he had spent the time between Euston and Willesden in saying all he
could to harden my brother's heart and set him against me. That is
what I fancy, for I had never found him so impossible to soften or to
move. I tried this way and I tried that; I pictured his future in an
English gaol; I described the sorrow of his mother when I came back
with the news; I said everything to touch his heart, but all to no
purpose. He sat there with a fixed sneer upon his handsome face, while
every now and then Sparrow MacCoy would throw in a taunt at me, or some
word of encouragement to hold my brother to his resolutions. "'Why don't you run a Sunday-school?' he would say to me, and then, in
the same breath:  'He thinks you have no will of your own. He thinks
you are just the baby brother and that he can lead you where he likes. He's only just finding out that you are a man as well as he.' "It was those words of his which set me talking bitterly. We had left
Willesden, you understand, for all this took some time. My temper got
the better of me, and for the first time in my life I let my brother
see the rough side of me. Perhaps it would have been better had I done
so earlier and more often. "'A man!' said I. 'Well, I'm glad to have your friend's assurance of
it, for no one would suspect it to see you like a boarding-school
missy. I don't suppose in all this country there is a more
contemptible-looking creature than you are as you sit there with that
Dolly pinafore upon you.' He coloured up at that, for he was a vain
man, and he winced from ridicule. "'It's only a dust-cloak,' said he, and he slipped it off. 'One has to
throw the coppers off one's scent, and I had no other way to do it.' He took his toque off with the veil attached, and he put both it and
the cloak into his brown bag. 'Anyway, I don't need to wear it until
the conductor comes round,' said he. "'Nor then, either,' said I, and taking the bag I slung it with all my
force out of the window. 'Now,' said I, 'you'll never make a Mary Jane
of yourself while I can help it. If nothing but that disguise stands
between you and a gaol, then to gaol you shall go.' "That was the way to manage him. I felt my advantage at once. His
supple nature was one which yielded to roughness far more readily than
to entreaty. He flushed with shame, and his eyes filled with tears. But MacCoy saw my advantage also, and was determined that I should not
pursue it. "'He's my pard, and you shall not bully him,' he cried. "'He's my brother, and you shall not ruin him,' said I. 'I believe a
spell of prison is the very best way of keeping you apart, and you
shall have it, or it will be no fault of mine.' "'Oh, you would squeal, would you?' he cried, and in an instant he
whipped out his revolver. I sprang for his hand, but saw that I was
too late, and jumped aside. At the same instant he fired, and the
bullet which would have struck me passed through the heart of my
unfortunate brother. "He dropped without a groan upon the floor of the compartment, and
MacCoy and I, equally horrified, knelt at each side of him, trying to
bring back some signs of life. MacCoy still held the loaded revolver
in his hand, but his anger against me and my resentment towards him had
both for the moment been swallowed up in this sudden tragedy. It was
he who first realized the situation. The train was for some reason
going very slowly at the moment, and he saw his opportunity for escape. In an instant he had the door open, but I was as quick as he, and
jumping upon him the two of us fell off the footboard and rolled in
each other's arms down a steep embankment. At the bottom I struck my
head against a stone, and I remembered nothing more.