Page:The Cross Pull.pdf/227

 savagery possessed him as he thought of the fate which would have been hers but for Flash. At such times he was filled with a desire to crush and kill that matched the most ruthless strain in Flash. He reached out his hand and rested it on the dog’s head.

“Flash, old boy,” he said, “The gulf between us isn’t so very wide after all.”

Vermont smiled understandingly.

“Not so very,” he agreed. “Take them as a whole and men aren’t so bad—not much worse than dogs.”

“What was your particular reason for thinking your men were up in here?” Moran inquired. “Merely the rumors to that effect?”

“Not altogether,” said Vermont. “There’s an eastern man, a lawyer, who is leagued with them. He’s been suspected of planning and financing one or two escapes. It couldn’t be proved. He’s too smooth for that. His fees seem to be in the nature of a percentage rake-off on every crime. There’s no law to prevent his taking money to defend these men in the event of their being caught. Once or twice a year he takes a hunt—maybe he hunts the same way we are hunting bear. Anyway this is where he hunts. Take that along