“Thought you were off to Rutherford, son.”
“So I was, sir, but—I came back.”
“So I see. Why?”
“I—I heard what they were saying about my father, sir. Dick Heller told me.”
“Well, well, he did, eh? It was better on the whole, I reckon. I had two minds to tell you myself, and then I just lacked the ginger. But now you know what you’re up against, don’t you? And your folks left last night, too. Some of the neighbors wanted to have a posse set out after them and bring them back, but Mr. Carson said Annie Laurie Pace was dead set against it. So he forbade it. You don’t mind my speaking right out? It’s best that way, isn’t it?”
“Best that way,” murmured Sam with dry lips.
“But you’ve come back, son, to face the music. Well, what can I do to help you?”
“Mr. Summers, do you think my father guilty? Do you think he took the money?”
“I’ve no more information on the subject than you,” said Mr. Summers. “What do you think—as man to man?”
