Charles E. Van Loan

“ Maybe I am; but a promise is a promise. I'm peculiar that way, I suppose, but sooner than break faith with—one who trusted me, I'd close up this place. Whether you believe it or not, that's the solemn truth. Yes, Jimmy, this is one case where virtue must be its own reward—its own reward. ”

“ The reporter leaped from his chair with a startled ejaculation.
"You had a hand in the actual recovery of the stuff, doc?" he demanded excitedly.
Gilmore lifted both hands, mutely offered them in evidence, and dropped them with a sweeping gesture more expressive than words.
"Can you prove that?" cried Dacey breathlessly.
"I can," said the Great Gilmore calmly, "but I won't. I promised a man that I'd keep my hands off entirely and not let myself be known. It was a compact." ”

“ Why, man alive, there's thirty thousand dollars' reward for the return of that stuff, and all you've got to do is prove your claim and demand it! They couldn't pay it to Buckshot John, but they could pay it to you! ”