“You don’t, eh?” Snadder wondered why this man didn’t wish to continue the acquaintance of several years ago. “Maybe you will remember Blinky better if I remind you of the time that the two of you doped that horse Maybe So and you put too much dope and the horse took sick. And maybe if I remind you——”
“Shut up!” roared Jeek. “I don’t know nothing about any of that crooked stuff. I was never on a race-track——”
Blinky, usually whining in his attitude, now was bristling with anger over the failure of Jeek to recognize him after he had helped the tout and paddock bettor in many a race-track game.
He shook a pudgy, fat fist at the burly red-faced man, anger almost hindering him from uttering words; but he managed to say:
“Maybe you don’t remember the time you swiped a hypodermic needle and used it on two horses in the same stable where I was working, and maybe you don’t remember that you paid me ten bucks to keep still when they started investigating!”
This appeared to hit Jeek a little harder than Snadder’s remarks. As a result he yelped at Fallon to close the door, which, during all this conversation, had been standing wide open, cooling the rooms down to an uncomfortable temperature.
“Tell you what you fellows do,” he snapped, when the door had been closed. “Get in a pile of logs and cut us a fresh supply right away. Meanwhile we’ll talk this over among ourselves and see what can be done about you.”
Snadder knew he and Blinky had won in their skirmish, and yielded to the suggestion of Jeek, for there was at least this much in prospect; that, after the three men talked over the matter, Snadder and Blinky might have a place to sleep and something to eat for a few days more.
In an hour’s time they had brought in enough logs to keep the fire going for two days, and they had also enough additional wood cut on the outside for two days after that.
“Tell you what we’ll do,” said Jeek, when the announcement was made that the tramps had done their part of the bargain. “You two fellows go over to that other cabin, start a good fire there, get the place warmed up good, and then we’ll take that place and you can have this for a few days—don’t know how long, because we’re going to hunt for that big bull moose and maybe we’ll be going to town pretty soon.”