“I’m stuck on your nerve, Dave Vallory—damned if I ain’t!” he grated. “If you could only draw a fraction quicker and shoot as plumb straight as you can talk, you’d be some man. Now I’ll spill what I mogged over here to spill: ever hear of a duck named Backus?—Simmy Backus?”
“Yes,” said David.
“Well, he used to pipe off the easy marks for me—same time he was working for you-all.”
“I know.”
“You lose him, and you’ve been lookin’ for him, ain’t you?”
“Right, again.”
“Uh-huh; I thought so. Know why you couldn’t find him?”
“No.”
“Well, I can tell you, I reckon. I had him hid out.”
“Hid out? locked up, you mean? Why did you do that?”