Mr. Hamlin had no moral
scruples, but he had the ethics of a sportsman, which he knew Mr. Van
Loo was not. Whether the woman was an innocent schoolgirl or an actress,
he was satisfied that Van Loo was doing a mean thing meanly. Mr. Hamlin
also had a taste for mischief, and whether the woman was or was not
fair game, he knew that for HIS purposes Van Loo was. With the greatest
cheerfulness in the world he wheeled his horse and cantered after them.
They were evidently making for the Divide and a fresh horse, or to
take the coach due an hour later. It was Mr. Hamlin's present object
to circumvent this, and, therefore, it was quite in his way to return.
Incidentally, however, the superior speed of his horse gave him the
opportunity of frequently lunging towards them at a furious pace, which
had the effect of frantically increasing their own speed, when he would
pull up with a silent laugh before he was fairly discovered, and allow
the sound of his rapid horse's hoofs to die out. In this way he amused
himself until the straggling town of the Divide came in sight, when,
putting his spurs to his horse again, he managed, under pretense of
the animal becoming ungovernable, to twice "cross the bows" of the
fugitives, compelling them to slacken speed. At the second of these
passages Van Loo apparently lost prudence, and slashing out with his
whip, the lash caught slightly on the counter of Hamlin's horse.
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