MacVeigh hated Quade, but he made no mention of him. Purposely he
passed Quade's tent and walked to the end of the street, nodding and
looking closely at those whom he knew. It was becoming more and more
evident to him that Quade and his pals were keeping the affair of the
afternoon as quiet as possible. Stevens had heard of it. He wondered how.
Aldous retraced his steps. As though nothing had happened, he entered
Quade's place. There were a dozen men inside, and among them he recognized
three who had been there that afternoon. He nodded to them. Slim Barker was
in Quade's place behind the counter. Barker was Quade's right-hand man at
Miette, and there was a glitter in his rat-like eyes as Aldous leaned over
the glass case at one end of the counter and asked for cigars. He fumbled a
bit as he picked out half a dollar's worth from the box. His eyes met
Slim's.
"Where is Quade?" he asked casually.
Barker shrugged his shoulders.
"Busy to-night," he answered shortly. "Want to see him?"
"No, not particularly. Only--I don't want him to hold a grudge."
Barker replaced the box in the case and turned away.
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