Page:Max Brand--The Seventh Man.djvu/120

106 hand of the master and whined. “Easy, boy. We're startin'.”

“But the night's just beginnin',” said Buck Daniels genially. “You got a world of time before you, and with Satan to fall back on you don't have to count your minutes. Pull up a chair beside me, Dan, and”

The latter shook his head, decided. “Buck, I can't do it. Just to sit here”—he looked about him—“makes me feel sort of choked. Them walls are as close—as a coffin.”

He was already turning; Kate straightened in the shadow, desperate.

“As a matter of fact, Dan,” said Lee Haines, suddenly, “we need your help badly.”

“Help?”

The heart of Kate stood in her eyes as she looked at Lee Haines.

“Sit down a minute, Dan, and I'll tell you about it.”

Barry slipped into a chair which he had pulled to one side—so that the back of it was towards the wall, and every one in the room was before him.