Adrian looked at the speaker in surprise.
“It’s the first time I ever knew you to show the white feather,” he said.
“Who’s showing the white feather?” demanded Billie, with much spirit. “I’m just as anxious as
anyone to put a stop to lawlessness; but you wouldn’t call any man a coward, would you, because he wouldn’t deliberately stick his head in a hornet’s nest?” And he gave his horse a vicious dig with his spurs.
“Oh, don’t get mad about it,” said Adrian. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
“Well, then, don’t be accusing me of showing the white feather. There’s a whole lot of difference, in my mind, between being a coward and using a little common sense.”
“He has the best of you there, Ad.,” remarked Donald; “when it comes to doing things, Billie will be on the job.”
Donald’s words were like oil on the troubled waters, and after a few minutes Billie continued in a voice entirely free from any irritation:
“The thing I can’t understand is this: If somebody has so much information as to what is to be done, why don’t they have some little knowledge of those who propose to do it? The whole thing looks fishy to me.”
“I believe you’re right,” assented Adrian, after turning the matter over in his mind for several minutes. “There is something kind of mysterious about it.”