“So, mon ami, we meet again. This is a mos’ pleasant meeting, but you are not to escape so easily this time.”
There was hatred in the halfbreed’s voice and in his eyes. Dick shivered inwardly, although he let no sign of fear be shown in his face or actions.
“All the better to have you here this time, LeBlanc, you just walk into our hands; and this time you will see the inside of a jail for sure,” said Dick boldly.
LeBlanc’s face darkened with rage. He made as though to reach for the knife that hung in his belt, but Barrows stopped him.
“That will do, LeBlanc, I’ll handle this matter in my own way. Remember you’re working for me, and you do as I say or get out, and I’ll find another man for the job.”
Dick was astonished at the way LeBlanc subsided. Evidently Barrows was a much braver man than they had given him credit for being; at any rate, he seemed to be the absolute master of the halfbreed.
“Yes, ma frien’, you are the boss, but perhaps another time, when I am not working for you, I will take care of this one. Now what we do with him.”
“We will put him in the cellar under the storehouse for the present, then when we have captured his friends, we will have them taken to Misery Camp.”
“Taking the others will be an easy matter, will it not? We shall just surround them like that and take them,” and he snapped his fingers with a derisive gesture.
“That’s just what we won’t do. Why do you suppose I am going to the trouble of all this secrecy for? If it had been merely a matter of capturing them, it would have been done long ago. But they have been on their guard most of the time, and this camp is full of lumberjacks that worked for old man Boone. If they got wise to anything, they would have me strung up to a tree in no time, and one of the worst riots in the history of the lumber business would have been pulled off in this camp. No, sir, I am saving my skin.”