"What——?" said Coast incredulously.
"I know who you are. You're Ben Cameron," said Peter distinctly.
The effect of this statement upon Jim Coast was extraordinary. He started back abruptly, overturning a chair, and fell rather than leaned against the bedpost—his eyes staring from a ghastly face.
"What—what did—you say?" he gasped chokingly.
"You're Ben Cameron," said Peter again.
Coast put the fingers of one hand to his throat and straightened slowly, still staring at Peter. Then uneasily, haltingly, he made a sound in his throat that grew into a dry laugh——
"Me—B-Ben Cameron! That's damn good. Me—Ben Cameron! Say, Pete, whatever put that into your head?"
"The way you frightened the old woman at the kitchen door."
"Oh!" Coast straightened in relief. "I get you. You've been talkin' to her."
"Yes. What did you say to her?"