“Do you mean—mean to say,” he stammered, “that you two have never met before?”
“I guess that’s about the size of it,” announced the stranger.
Hooker was speechless. Nash looked from one to the other of the men, waiting patiently—not a little curiously, too—for the introduction that did not come.
Finally, with a shrug of indifference, the stranger turned back to the machine.
“I’m in a big hurry, Hooker,” he snapped. “I want to see you right away. Can you spare me a little time?”
“Of course,” the foreman replied dully, as if his mind was a dozen miles away from the subject.
Realizing that he was the unwelcome third party, Nash whirled about and went back to his shack. The moment he was out of hearing, the foreman and the stranger left the machine standing in the road and walked across to Hooker’s cabin.
“What the devil’s all this fuss about?” the newcomer burst out.
“I’ll explain in just a second,” Hooker answered. “I want to arrange one matter before then.”
They stepped into the big room of the cabin. Hooker lighted a lamp and pulled down the curtains. Then, without a word to his visitor, he jerked the receiver from the telephone and called for a certain person.