The peanut man did full justice to the meal prepared for him, and, while he ate, the Overlanders plied him with questions. Ham White sat back and regarded their guest with interest. White was keen, and little escaped his alert eyes.
“That fellow is bluffing!” was his mental comment. “I wonder what his game is.”
“Now that you have no horse, what are you going to do?” asked Hippy.
“Sell peanuts! I’ll take your orders now.”
The peanut man did, and when he had finished, each member of the party had given him an order for a bag of peanuts, Stacy being the only one whose order was a gift. From then on until bedtime the visitor rattled on, keeping the party convulsed with laughter. In the conversations that followed the evening’s entertainment, Jim Haley succeeded in drawing from them the story of their experiences in the brief time that they had been out, and discovered that he was not talking with greenhorns.
Mr. Haley was particularly interested in Miss Briggs’ experiences with the bandits at the ranger cabin, and questioned her in detail as to the appearances of the riders.
“Probably the same fellows that held me up,” he observed, stroking his chin. “You say the old prospector had something that they wanted to get possession of?” he asked, turning to Elfreda.
She answered with a slight incline of the head.
“What was it?” The question was direct and incisively put.
“Being a lawyer, and having my client’s interests at heart, I decline to permit her to answer,” returned Elfreda, which brought a hearty laugh from the party, Jim Haley laughing more loudly than any of the others.