He had been near
death a hundred times, yet he had escaped unhurt. Mr. Knapp helped him.
He prospered in business, bought a ranch, and turned farmer. To all
appearances, he had reformed completely. No one would suspect in the
Sonoma rancher the daring leader of the outlaws in Texas."
"I could believe anything of him," I said grimly.
"You have had a taste of his quality," said Mrs. Knapp. "Well, it was
seven years ago that he married. His wife was much younger than he,--a
lovely girl, and her parents were rich. How he got her I do not see. It
was his gift of the tongue, I suppose, for he could talk well. She was
not happy with him, but was better contented when, two years later, her
boy came. Mr. Lane was often from home, but I do not think she
regretted the neglect with which he treated her. He was not a man who
made his home pleasant while he was about. After a while he used to
disappear for weeks, spending the time in low haunts in the city, or
none knew where. Last year Mrs. Lane's father died, and she came in
under the will for more than a million dollars' worth of property. Then
Mr. Lane changed his habits. He became most attentive to his wife. He
looked to her wants, and appeared to the world as a model husband. But
more was going on than we knew. From the little she told me, from the
hints she dropped, she must have looked upon him with dread. She failed
rapidly in health, and six months ago she died."
"Murdered?" I asked.
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