“The contract? Why, the contract’s all right—fine. I was just wondering——” He shook his shoulders impatiently. “But you’ll be all right, I guess. A man of your type——” He forced another laugh. “Of course it’s all right!”
“You got something on your mind,” James Blaine Hawkins challenged uneasily. “What is it? You needn’t be afraid to tell me.”
But Gary forced a laugh and declared that he had nothing at all on his mind. And by his very manner and tone James Blaine Hawkins knew that he was lying.
The mottled cat hopped upon the doorstep, hesitated when she saw James Blaine Hawkins sitting there, then walked in demurely.
“Funny-looking cat,” James Blaine Hawkins commented carelessly.
Gary looked up at him surprisedly; saw the direction of his glance, and turned and looked that way with a blank expression of astonishment.
“Cat? What cat?”
“That cat! Hell, can’t you see that cat?” James Blaine Hawkins leaned forward excitedly.
Gary’s glance wandered over the cabin floor. Toward Faith, over Faith and beyond Faith. He might have been a blind man for all the expression there was in his eyes. He turned and eyed James Blaine Hawkins curiously.
“You mean to say you—you see a cat?” he asked solicitously.