"I'm glad to hear that."
"I knew you'd be. That's why I've come, all friendly, to talk things over. Suppose you look at it this way—"
"Joe Rix," broke in Donnegan, sighing, "I'm very tired. Won't you cut this short? Tell me in ten words just how you stand."
Joe Rix blinked once more, caught his breath, and fired his volley.
"Short talk is straight talk, mostly," he declared. "This is what Lester and the rest of us want—the mines!"
"Ah?"
"Macon stole 'em. We got 'em back through Landis. Now we've got to get 'em back through the colonel himself. But we can't get at the colonel while you're around."
"In short, you're going to start out to get me? I expected it, but it's kind of you to warn me."
"Wait, wait, wait! Don't rush along to conclusions. We ain't so much in a hurry. We don't want you out of the way. We just want you on our side."
"Shoot me up and then bring me back to life, eh?"