“I’m glad we came away from our luncheon,” whispered Cora, as the men resumed their talk. The wind sprang up, for a moment, and carried their tones away from the girls, so that only an indistinct murmur could be heard. Then there came clear talk again.
“Well, what’s the program, then?” asked one whom the girls could tell was Moran. He was the same man they had seen before in the drug store.
“Get at Shane first of all,” decided Kelly. “I’m willing to let Bruce do it, even if I am Irish.”
“We’ll all have to call on him,” said Bruce, grimly, “but only one need actually do the business. We’ve got to deal with him in two ways. We’ve got to make him tell what we want brought out in court, and we’ve got to scare him so that he won’t tell what we don’t want known. And there are two ways of doing that.”
“How?” asked Kelly.
“First we can offer him a reward. It will be worth it, even if we have to pay something to have him testify as we wish. The committee allowed us a certain sum for—well, let us say for witness fees. I’d rather pay him a hundred dollars and have it all over with. It’s better to have a friend than an enemy, and you never can tell which way a thing like this is going to swing.”
“Sposin’ he won’t take the cash?” asked Moran.
“Then I have another plan,” and Bruce laughed bitterly. “I guess I don’t need to say what it is.”
“I’m wise,” remarked Kelly. “Only—not too rough, you understand. He’s a feeble old man.”
“No rougher than’s necessary,” agreed Bruce.