“The telegraph office will open in exactly forty minutes,” he said, snapping it shut. “Do we eat first? You see,” he continued, “I was broken of my rest last night, and it always makes me hungry to lie awake.”
“There’s a place down the street that looks like something to eat,” and Alex shot ahead to investigate.
Several men who had been following the little party now came forward.
“Say, stranger,” a man who appeared to be the leader said, “if you’ll step aside and answer a few questions, I’ll take it as a favor on your part. A bank was robbed of $100,000 by a man answering your description—red head and all. The robbery was pulled off Monday night.”
CHAPTER VI
ALEX GETS A SQUARE MEAL
“And you think I turned the trick?” asked Rube.
“I don’t think anything about it,” was the answer, in an unpleasant tone of voice. “I just asked you to step aside for a minute so I could find out. If you get gay, I’ll have to put the irons on you—just for luck.”
“See here, stranger, if you ever get irons on me, you’ll have to put up a fight for it,” Rube remarked with a scowl. “And,” he continued, “I may as well tell you right now that I’m not here to answer any fool questions.”
Both men drew revolvers at the same instant, and would have used them had Clay not stepped in between them.