It was a long time before the sullen answer came:
"Always was afraid of him."
"Afraid of me?"
"No fear," said Arnie, with a laugh. "Not much. But I always have been feared of Bert Mestaer."
"What?" Otis gave a kind of jump into the air. "Mestaer? That? Mestaer coming the county gentleman? And I never knew it! You little devil, why didn't you tell me?"
"Thought you'd know him."
Otis stood still in the dusty lane. He went from red to pale, and almost to purple again.
"If he thinks he's done with me, he makes a mistake, that's all," he growled; and he snarled like a wild beast.