"Have a chair," said Sheriff Owen. "I got one."
"I'm Pete Annersley," said Pete. "Did you want to see me?"
"Thought I'd call and introduce myself. I'm Jim Owen to my friends.
I'm sheriff of Sanborn County to others."
"All right, Mr. Owen," said Pete, smiling in spite of himself.
"That's the idea--only make it Jim. Did you ever use one of these?"
And suddenly Sheriff Owen had a Luger automatic in his hand. Pete
wondered that a man as fat as the little sheriff could pull a gun so
quickly.
"Why--no. I ain't got no use for one of them doggone stutterin'
smoke-wagons."
"Here, too," said Owen, slipping the Luger back into his pocket.
"Never shot one of 'em in my life. Ever try one?"
"I--" Pete caught himself on the verge of saying that he had tried Ed
Brevoort's Luger once. He realized in a flash how close the sheriff
had come to trapping him. "I never took to them automatics," he
asserted lamely.
Pete had dodged the question. On the face of it this looked as though
Pete might have been trying to shield himself by disclaiming any
knowledge of that kind of weapon.
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