Blount started back, for he knew the import of those dread words, and then he heaved a great sigh.
“Very well,” he said, “but I loaned her eight hundred dollars─”
“Wiley!” called the Colonel, beckoning him quickly from the crowd. “Give me the loan of eight hundred dollars.”
308And at that Blount opened up his eyes.
“Oho!” he said, “so Wiley is with you? Well, just a moment, Mr. Huff.” He turned to a man who stood beside him. “Arrest that man!” he said. “He killed my watchman, George Norcross.”
“Not so fast!” rapped out the Colonel, fixing the officer with steely eyes. “Mr. Holman is under my protection. Ah, thank you, Wiley–here is your money, Mr. Blount, with fifty dollars more for interest. And now I will thank you for that stock.”
“Do you set yourself up,” demanded Blount with sudden bluster, “as being above the law?”
“No, sir, I do not,” replied the Colonel tartly. “But before we go any further I must ask you to restore my stock. Your order is sufficient, if the certificates are elsewhere─”
“Well–all right!” sighed Blount, and wrote out an order which Colonel Huff gravely accepted. “And now,” went on Blount, “I demand that you step aside and allow Wiley Holman to be taken.”
The Colonel’s eyes narrowed, and he motioned the officer aside as he laid his own hand on Wiley’s shoulder.