Among the older men were many whose
features showed the tigerish, lawless souls within; but looking
at the rank and file it was difficult to believe that these eager
and open-faced young fellows were in very truth a dangerous gang
of murderers, whose minds had suffered such complete moral
perversion that they took a horrible pride in their proficiency
at the business, and looked with deepest respect at the man who
had the reputation of making what they called "a clean job."
To their contorted natures it had become a spirited and
chivalrous thing to volunteer for service against some man who
had never injured them, and whom in many cases they had never
seen in their lives. The crime committed, they quarrelled as to
who had actually struck the fatal blow, and amused one another
and the company by describing the cries and contortions of the
murdered man.
At first they had shown some secrecy in their arrangements; but
at the time which this narrative describes their proceedings were
extraordinarily open, for the repeated failure of the law had
proved to them that, on the one hand, no one would dare to
witness against them, and on the other they had an unlimited
number of stanch witnesses upon whom they could call, and a
well-filled treasure chest from which they could draw the funds
to engage the best legal talent in the state.
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