Page:O'Higgins--The Adventures of Detective Barney.djvu/298

 dog. How dare you!” She took the coat and turned back to the house with it, driving the crestfallen dog before her.

“I hope he has n’t spoiled your coat,” the man apologized. “I never knew him to do such a thing before.” He added suspiciously: “I could have sworn he would n’t attack any one—unless he was badly provoked.”

“That ’s all right,” Barney said. “If I ’d seen him first, he would n’t ’a’ got me. I did n’t notice him in the dark.”

“What were you doing?”

“Mindin’ my own bus’ness.”

“Do you live around here?”

“Nope.”

The man was scrutinizing him as well as he could in the faint moonlight, and Barney’s manner resented the scrutiny.

“Where are you from?”

Barney did not answer.

“You ’re not a country boy.”

“Never mind about me,” Barney said. “Gi’ me the coat an’ I ’ll get along.”