Page:Edison Marshall--The voice of the pack.djvu/261

Rh Cranston laughed with harsh scorn. "But that is n't the question. I said I 've wasted all the time I'm going to. You are an old man and helpless; but I'm not going to let that stand in the way of getting what I came to get. They 're hidden somewhere around this house. They would n't be out in the snow, because he'd want 'em where he could get them. By no means would he carry them on his person—fearing that some day he'd meet me on the ridge. He's a fool, but he ain't that much of a fool. I 've watched, and he's had no chance to take them into town. I 'll give you—just five seconds to tell me where they 're hidden."

"And I give you," Lennox replied, "one second less than that—to go to Hell!"

Both of them breathed hard in the quiet room. Cranston was trembling now, shivering just a little in his arms and shoulders. "Don't get me wrong, Lennox," he warned.

"And don't have any delusions in regard to me, either," Lennox replied. "I 've stood worse pain, from this accident, than any man can give me while I yet live, no matter what he does. If you want to get on me and hammer me in the approved Cranston way, I can't defend myself—but you won't get a civil answer out of me. I'm used to pain, and I can stand