Page:Raymond Spears--Diamond Tolls.djvu/131

 so, and if I hadn't taken more. I'd whiffed, though, and I whiffed again, when I crawled out on the bar. Wonder I didn't take enough to lay me cold. I didn't have only a little in my jag, I remember. So I didn't have only enough to set me off my head."

"This is where she shot you?" Urleigh repeated. "I was wondering about that."

"Yes, and she was a mighty pretty girl, too. If it hadn't been for the snow, I'd known better. You know what coke does to a man! I never hit it regular, you understand. Down here, after I've been working, I take on a little. I let it alone, though, for months, not touching a smell! Well, she done a good job, and made her getaway—but you wait, lad! You've done me a good turn, and I know a friend. We got to find that girl next. She's a slick one. You know what I think? I've been studying, and I understand now. I was a fool! She showed herself to me up the Ohio. I was afraid, then; something about her warned me. Then she showed herself again. She pretended she didn't notice me at all. But I see now she was tolling me along. She hasn't left the river—I heard that. She's slick, but we'll be slicker."

"You think she just wanted a chance to roll you?" Urleigh asked, understandingly.

"Exactly that, old boy. I've been trying to think out what she must have known. You see, you take a