Page:Frank Packard - On the Iron at Big Cloud.djvu/265

 Lee was the first of the two to hear that Faro Clancy was "loose." "It looks to me like a bad business," he said, after telling Perley the news.

Perley's eyes just narrowed a little. "It looks more like a bad shot, a rotten bad shot," he answered evenly.

"That, if you like," returned Lee; "but there'll be more to follow."

"One would think you knew Clancy," said Perley, cool as ever.

Lee was anxious. Call it presentiment or what you like, from that moment the thing was on his nerves. Perley had been pretty good to him; had made things a heap easier for the young fellow, green and raw as he was, in a hundred different ways. Things like that mean something.

"Look here, Perley," said he, "I've heard some talk, and I know there's something behind all this between you and that devil. I'm not asking for confidences"

Perley cut him short, and caught him almost angrily by the shoulder. "Don't meddle!" he snapped. "Let it drop. You don't count in this, whatever happens. Your being at the Bend that day was an accident. What's between me and Clancy concerns ourselves. You don't count. Unless you're looking for another run besides the local, just remember that and don't meddle."

That was all. Lee never mentioned it to Perley again. Perley was right, wasn't he? I told you there were three men in this story, but that one of them didn't count. No, Lee didn't count. Why should he?