“Then be quick about it. I have no time to waste.”
“Neither have I,” remarked Slump, with an uneasy glance towards the street. “To be short and sweet, I know Glen Palmer.”
Ralph started a trifle at this. Slump spoke the name with a knowing look in his eyes and a sidelong leer that was sinister.
“Well, what of it?” demanded Ralph.
“I thought I’d seen him before the day I met him up at the yards. I racked my brain to recall him. This morning it all came to me.”
“What do you suppose I care about your knowing him?” inquired Ralph.
“Just this: he’s a friend of yours, a sort of pet. I understand you started him in the chicken farming business, so you must have some interest in him. All right, I can snip him out of his position of glory double quick,” asserted Ike, in a malevolent and threatening way.
“Go ahead, what are you driving at?” asked Ralph as calmly as he could.
“Five dollars--that’s what it will cost you to keep your friend from being exposed. Five dollars, and I bury the secret fathoms deep.”
“In other words,” said Ralph, trying hard to suppress his feelings, “you want to blackmail me?”