Viles swung toward him, cried aloud, “You dog! I’ll teach you manners!”
“Yes, sir,” said Jeff slowly. “I’d like right well to mix it up with you.”
Viles stopped in his tracks; the man was convulsed and shaking with his own ferocious rage. “But it ain’t fair to pick on you,” Jeff decided; “you’re such a fool.”
Lucia came to her feet, turned to Jeff appealingly. “You heard what he said?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Is it true? Can he do this? Is the law that way?”
Viles reached toward his wife, would have taken her arm. “Lucia!” he cried. “Come away from here. Come away from here with me.”
But Jeff put an arm between them, swept the big man back against the table. For an instant no one of them moved. Then Jeff said slowly, “I had a lawsuit once, so I happen to know. What he says is all right. On private conversations. But you see, this wa’n’t private. I heard.”
“You heard?” she whispered, not understanding.