"Putty nigh it; but you call it by a hard name, stranger. Did the kurnel send the rhino?"
"The colonel?"
"I mean Andy Barkswell, of course."
"He wanted to make sure that you had completed the job."
"Why, condum it, wasn't he thar? What more could he ax?"
"Nothing, so far as Keene is concerned."
"Wal?"
The detective realized that he was treading on dangerous ground, yet he resolved to risk it.
"It's about that other affair."
"The t'other affair?"