Martin did not allow the two men to get very far away from him, and he watched them as closely as a cat would a mouse every moment they were talking together.
“Those two men are in bad shape,” Nick said.
“Well, you did the hitting, I didn’t.”
“That won’t make any difference. We’d both have to stand trial if we should get caught.”
“Oh, come off! Nothing can be done to a man for knocking out a highway robber.”
“Ah!” thought Nick, “he has been getting some advice from my friend Martin.”
“Look here,” said Martin, advancing to where the two men were standing, and addressing Nick, “this man and I have an engagement to-night, and we don’t intend to have any outsiders forced upon us. If you have transacted your business with him you’d better walk away.”
“That’s right,” said Amos, now com[{24}]pletely under the control of the master mind; “you did me a good turn in there, and I’m much obliged to you, but I’ve got business with this man just now.”
Nick regarded both men with a countrified stare for a moment, and then walked away.
“It’s a good thing,” he thought, “that I tumbled to the racket before we got started for the stables. The man would certainly have suspected something.