“Yes. He probably thinks that’s true. Caretall got around him, somehow.”
Routt said: “Caretall’s a shrewd man, he can get around other men. He knows the trick of it.” Kite said nothing. He was thinking over what Chase had said. Routt continued: “What we want to do is to go out and get him.”
Chase suddenly found the atmosphere of this room unbearable; he wanted to get out in the air. So he got up, and said harshly: “I’m with you on that. I’ll do anything I can against Amos. Let me know what you decide.”
Routt said: “Don’t run away. Let’s talk things over.” But Chase told him he had business elsewhere; and Kite made no objection to his going. When he was gone, Routt told Kite:
“He’ll have to be handled carefully. He’s naturally a dry man, you know.”
Kite said thoughtfully, as though he were considering another matter: “Yes, that’s so.”
“I’ve been figuring on what you suggested—getting a handle to control Wint,” Routt told him. “You know, I think there’s a way.”
“To get something on Wint?”
“Yes. He’s not such a terribly upright young man. Any one’s foot is apt to slip.”
“You mean his has slipped?” Kite asked eagerly. Routt only grinned.