“Well,” Bender asked; “where could I find him?”
She shook her head again.
“He ain't here,” she repeated in that flat tone that was instantly monotonous.
“Yessum, I know he ain't here. But where is he?”
She looked at him with wide, sharp eyes and she started to shake her head when Bender said, “I'm Captain Bender of the Rangers. It's pretty important.”
The woman now evidenced a slight animation. She stepped back and opened the door a little, saying: “Come in, Captain Bender. Come in.”
“No'm,” he said; “I just wanna locate Mr. Peebles.”
“He's off to a meeting,” she said, her voice sounding as if it were struggling from great depths to reach the surface. “You can wait here if you want to or you can go down to the Odd Fellows' Hall. That's where the meeting is. The Odd Fellows' Hall.”
“Thanks,” he replied. “I'll run on down there.”
“That's all right, Captain,” she said. “You come back any time you want to.”