“You bet I will!” says he. “I ain’t forgot, Dave, that you saved my life twice,” which was all very well for him to say, and I had no objection to his thinking so, though, between ourselves, I never felt that that fellow Opdyke had the courage to shoot.
Well, I was at the Astor House at five o’clock, feeling a little bit shaky I will admit.
I seen him coming across from the post office. He’d been to get more green goods letters from country suckers, I s’pose.
First off I thought he was going past, but pretty soon he saw me and steered straight for me.
I watched him close as he gave me one sharp look. Then I knew I was safe.
“You’re on time,” he says, coming up close to me. “See, I’ve been over to the post-office, look at this bunch of letters. They are all from fellows who’ve tried my goods and want more. That’s the kind of business I do.”
“Let me read one of the letters so I’ll know you ain’t foolin’ me,” I says, doing Sam’s country voice as well as I could.
I saw him come the flim-flam and snake a letter out of his pocket and work it into the bundle.
That was the letter he gave me to read, of course, and equally of course it was a blooming fake.
It told how the writer had used up ten thousand dollars in green goods in three months without ever having a complaint.