“Well, I wouldn’t advise you to bank much on that feeling. It will fool you. You feel that way because you hate Hodge. I don’t wonder you hate him, but, take my advice and let him alone. He is a dangerous fellow.”
“Thank you for the advice. He isn’t half as dangerous as you think, Garland. In fact, I regard him as perfectly harmless.”
“That eye doesn’t proclaim him to be. He must have given you that in short order. There was a squall from Stanley, and I rushed to see what had happened. Heard a heavy fall, and you were picking yourself up when I arrived on the scene, while Hodge was gone.”
“That’s it!” growled Vance. “He didn’t stay to face me! He took to his heels, like the sneak he is!”
“I hardly think he ran away.”
“I don’t care what you think; he did run away, just the same, and I’ll bet he’ll take care not to meet me again.”
“He’ll have to meet you.”
“Perhaps not.”
“Of course, he will. You are both in the same company, and you have business with each other in the play.”
“All the same, I don’t think Bart Hodge will dare meet me again,” boasted Vance.