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Rh It spoke well of Vic's nerve that no start betrayed him. He bowed his head a little, as though to catch the trend of the jolly story better, nodding.

“What's wrong?” he muttered back.

“Barry's watchin' you out of the shadow.”

Then: “You fool, don't look!”

But there was method in Vic's raising his head. He threw it back and broke into laughter, but while he laughed he searched the shadow by the wall where Dan sat, and he felt glimmering eyes fixed steadily upon him. He dropped his head again, as if to hear more.

“What's it mean, Daniels?”

“You ought to know. I don't. But he don't mean you no good. He's lookin' at you too steady. If I was you”

Through the whisper of Buck, through the loud, steady talk of Lee Haines, cut the voice of Barry.

“Vic!”

The latter looked up and found that Barry was standing just within the glow of the hearth-light and something about him made Gregg's heart shrink.

“Vic, how much did they pay you?”

He tried to answer; he would have given ten years of life to have his voice under control for an instant; but his tongue froze. He knew that every one had turned toward him and he tried to smile, look unconcerned, but in spite of himself his eyes were wide, fixed, and he felt that they could stare into the bottom of his soul and see the guilt.