“See that bloke there?” he asked, pointing at Quest.
“The guy with the linen collar?” the other answered. “I see him.”
“That’s Quest, the detective,” the Irishman went on hoarsely. “That’s the man who got me five years in the pen, the beast. That’s the man I’ve been looking for. You’re my mate, Jim, eh?”
“I guess so,” the other grunted. “Are you going to try and do him in?”
“You wait!”
“Now, then, you fellows,” Horan shouted. “What are you hanging about there for, Red Gallagher? Bring the carriage up. You fellows can go and have a smoke for an hour. I’m going to take her down the line a bit.”
The two men obeyed and disappeared in the direction of the section house. Quest looked after them curiously.
“That’s a big fellow,” he remarked. “What did you call him? Red Gallagher? I seem to have seen him before.”
“He was the most troublesome fellow on the line once, although he was the biggest worker,” the boss replied. “He got five years in the penitentiary and that seems to have taken the spirit out of him.”
“I believe I was in the case,” Quest observed carelessly.