In half an hour
the cars and the men will be so far away that we need give no thought to
them. Then we can attend to Reade and Hazelton."
"What are you going to do with them?" demanded Ashby in a whisper, his
cunning eyes lighting with a fire of added eagerness.
"We'll get 'em awake, first of all," nodded Jim Duff. "Then we'll
attend to them."
"Remember, they ruined my business!" whispered the hotel man.
"Well, didn't they ruin my business, too?" snarled Duff. "Didn't they
cant like a pair of hypocrites, and turn hundreds of their workmen
against coming in to play in my place? Didn't these young hounds keep
me from winning thousands of dollars of railroad money? Ash, I tell
you, these young fellows have hit me hard! First, they broke up my
games. Next, they talked their men out of going into Paloma and
spending money for drink. Why, Ash, next thing you know, they would have
brought missionaries to Paloma to convert men and to build churches!"
As Ashby glared at the unconscious boys from under his black brows he
looked as though he believed them capable of all the wickedness that Jim
Duff's imagination had charged against them.
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