"I don't suppose he'd dare, seein' we've ... let him know how we feel."
George spoke slowly, as if he were not quite sure of what he was saying.
"He knows his hide'd suffer if he tried."
"That's right."
Archie Cross came from the bar and joined them.
"He's trying to make up to the boys—he likes people to think he's Christmas, Jun," he said, "and he just wants 'em to forget that anything's been said—detrimental to his character like."
George was inclined to agree with Archie. They went to the form against the wall of the hotel and sat there smoking for a while; then all three got up to go home.
"You don't think we ought to see Rummy home?" Watty inquired hesitatingly.
He was ashamed to suggest that Rouminof, drunk, and with four or five hundred pounds' worth of opal in his pockets, was not as safe as if his pockets were empty. But Jun had brought a curious unrest into the community. Watty, or Archie, or George, themselves would have walked about with the same stuff in their pockets without ever thinking anybody might try to put a finger on it.
None of the three looked at each other as they thought over the proposition. Then Archie spoke: