“Hello,” said a voice just behind him, “what’s all this about?” and a hand grabbed his wrist.
Nolan turned with a little cry of fright. He gave a gasp of relief as he recognized Nevins.
“What d’ ye want t’ scare a feller like that fer?” he demanded, wrenching his wrist loose.
“Were you scared?” asked Nevins, with a little sneer. “Lost your nerve, hey?”
“No, I ain’t lost my nerve,” retorted Nolan, savagely, “an’ you’ll soon find it out, if you tries t’ git smart with me! I didn’t tell all I knowed at th’ trial!”
Even in the darkness, Nolan could see how Nevins’s face changed, and he laughed triumphantly. Nevins echoed the laugh, but in an uncertain key.
“Oh, come, Dan,” he said, “don’t get mad. I didn’t mean anything.”
But Nolan was not one to be generous with an adversary when he had him down.
“No,” he went on slowly, "I didn’t tell all I knowed. Let’s see—last fall you was night operator at Harper’s—an’ th’ station was robbed—an’ when th’ day man come on in th’ mornin’ he found you gagged an’ bound in yer chair, sufferin’ terrible. I didn’t tell th’ court how willin’ you was t’ git tied up, nor how we happened t’ choose th’ night when th’ station was full o’ vallyble freight, nor how you got a share o’ th’ swag—"
“Oh, come, Dan,” Nevins broke in, “what’s the use of raking all that up again? Of course you didn’t tell. I knew mighty well you wouldn’t give a friend away.”