You've got to get Brad out
of town to-night. He's done for now and--"
Dick Cronk interrupted his old friend with a snarl of impatience. "Get
him away yourself! I'm doing the best I know how. He won't leave of
his own free will. He's here to do that man and he won't be put off.
And what's more, Bob Grand ought to get it good and hard. Somebody
ought to spike him, and who's got a better right than Tom Braddock?
I'm ashamed of you, Joey! If you'd been half a man you'd 'a' beat his
head off to-night when he put his foot on your doorstep, after what he
put up to Ruby. I--I wish I'd been there!"
The bowl of the clay pipe dropped to the bricks. He literally had
ground the stem in two with his teeth.
"Go home now--both of you," he said, a moment later, following his own
awkward laugh. "You can't afford to be seen here. I'll look out for
Brad. The Colonel won't come here a-lookin' for him, you can bet your
life on that. You'll hear from me to-morrow. Maybe you think I ain't
sick of this business? If it wasn't for you, Davy, I'd cut it in a
minute and dig for the wooly West, where Mr. Barnum and Mr.
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