"His question was, 'Badger, did not you kill Tom Edwards?'"
As Frank Shirley repeated these words he looked into Badger's face and saw the color flying and the thick lips trembling.
"Why do you speak in that kind of a way to me?" stammered Badger. "Ain't I stuck by you and did what I said? And so far as the killin' of Tom Edwards is consarned, didn't you help plan the job, and didn't you stand by while I carried it out?"
"That is all true, Badger; but I am not going back on you——"
"Then why do you speak that way?"
"Because I want you to understand that Willett suspects the whole truth. Indeed, he stated the case from beginning to end as if he knew all about it."
"Wa'al, if he does, I didn't tell him."
"Of course not, Badger; but you must see that those who think Willett and Hank Tims innocent will at once say, 'Some one killed Tom Edwards, and we should find the guilty parties.'"
"And that's the thought that skeers you?"
"I must confess, Badger, it makes me feel very uneasy," said Shirley.