Ronicky Doone's Treasure (1922) (25 page)

He went to Jack Moon and gave the fallen man a cursory examination. It had been instant death. Ronicky looked down with a sort of childlike wonder. How could one bullet have opened the way for the passage of the vital spirit from that enormous frame, so cunningly made for strength and endurance, so trained to feats of strength? How could one bullet have stopped forever the machinations of that crafty brain?

Ronicky went slowly to the girl.

She still sat with her face bowed in her arms, but when he came near, still covering her eyes, she reached out one hand toward him, fumbling like a blind person.

"Ronicky!" she whispered.

"Yes?" he said gently.

"Dad?"

"All's well with him, thank Heaven!"

"Thank Heaven, and thanks to you. Oh, Ronicky, what have you done for us?"

"Only helped your dad fight a ghost out of his past," said Ronicky Doone as gently as before. "Now that the ghost's gone, let's forget all about it!"