Page:Edison Marshall--The voice of the pack.djvu/165

Rh match? I believe your pipe has gone out."

Very little can be said for the wisdom of this remark. It was simply human,—that age-old creed to answer blow for blow and insult for insult. Of course the inference was obvious,—that Dan was accusing him, by innuendo, of his late attempt at arson. Cranston glanced up quickly, and it might be true that his fingers itched and tingled about the barrel of his rifle. He knew what Dan meant. He understood perfectly that Dan had guessed his purpose on the mountain side. And the curl at his lips became more pronounced.

"What a smart little boy," he scorned. "Going to be a Sherlock Holmes when he grows up." Then he half turned and the light in his eyes blazed up. He was not leering now. The mountain men are too intense to play at insult very long. Their inherent savagery comes to the surface, and they want the warmth of blood upon their fingers. The voice became guttural. "Maybe you 're a spy?" he asked. "Maybe you 're one of those city rats—to come up and watch us, and then run and tell the forest service. There's two things, Failing, that I want you to know."

Dan puffed at his pipe, and his eyes looked curiously bright through the film of smoke.