"Yes, I can, for I don't know."
"I wish to see O'Hara on a matter of the first importance."
"But he may not want to see you, and I ain't the man to make things unpleasant for a friend."
"You certainly expect them back to-night, do you not?"
Jack smoked his pipe a few seconds before giving heed to this simple question. Then, turning slowly toward Harvey, who was still standing in the middle of the room, he said:
"You had better sit down, for you won't find Hugh and Tom any sooner by keeping your feet. What do you want to see 'em for?"
"That I can explain only to them, though it is Hugh whom I particularly want to meet."
The superintendent took the seat to which he was invited. It was the stool on which he sat when in the cabin before. It cost him a greater effort than can be explained to defer to this defiant fellow, who a few weeks or even days before would have cringed at his feet like a dog.
"That being the case," added Jack, between the puffs at his pipe, "why you'll have to wait till they come back. That may be inside of five minutes, and not for an hour; maybe," added Jack in the game exasperating manner, "that nothing will be seen of 'em till daylight. You see that since they have been cheated out of their work they have plenty of time to loaf through the country."
"Any man who is too lazy to work can find time to turn his hand to dishonest tricks," said the superintendent, meaning that the words should not be misunderstood.